Ataxia Ride
by Mollypolly55
Summary: Muscular Dystrophy. Ataxia. Friedreich's ataxia. These are the words that influence and shape my world. I was diagnosed when I was 9. My disease colors every aspect of my life. But what happens when the colors bleed out?
1. Chapter 1 Now

**Hey! I hope you guys like my new story. Inspiration struck last night and I haven't been able to stop thinking about.**

**To those of you reading Why give up now, I'll try and up date as soon as I get a chance.**

**Enjoy!**

**Now**

I was nine years old when I got diagnosed. Your mind impenitently flies to cancer, right? No, there are other diseases out there, too. Have you ever heard of Muscular Dystrophy? Notice how closely it sounds like muscles and deteriorate? Well, yeah that's basically what my disease is; my muscles are slowly shrinking, dissolving. I know eventually I'll be confined to a wheelchair.

I have another question, have you heard of Friedreich's ataxia (pronounced either Fred- like the guy from _iCarly _or the guy with the high pitched voice on YouTube- Rick's -like SpongeBob's best friend, Patrick, but just the Rick part- Attack, C -like the letter- Uh. Or some people say Freed, Rick's, Attack, C, Uh). That's specifically what my disease is called. Muscular Dystrophy is like a category, there are 36 (maybe 38?) forms of MD. My disease, FA (Friedreich's ataxia) falls into that category. Think of cell phones, you can say cell phone, or get more specific and say Envy 2 or Gravity touch.

Hopefully you're still with me. Remember how I said it affects my muscles? Well, that's the only thing it affects. It doesn't affect my mental health, just physical (not that I'm deformed, I mean my muscles). It effects all my muscles in my, legs, arms, back, hands, heart, balance motor skills gross and fine. It effects some people's talking too (not mine) they slur their worlds and can't talk fast. Basically it makes us seem like we're drunk. It's progressive, which means over time, it gets worse. It affects 1 50,000.

Now, why does my disease affect these things? Because, everyone's body makes 32 Frataxin proteins (they're the things that helps your body make energy) and anyone's body who makes more than 32 has FA. My body makes 700. Picture this, everyone's body reads a recipe 32 times, than makes energy. My body reads it 700 times, so it's so focused on the recipe, it doesn't make enough energy. Then it has a domino effect on the rest of my body, cells start shutting down, and my muscles weaken.

700 seems like a big number, huh? Wrong. Mine is extremely slow progressing; most kids who have FA are 900 or higher. Most kids are in a wheelchair 5 years within their diagnoses. I've known for 7 years and the only with I've lost is my ability to run. I can walk, write with a pencil, talk normally, rarely fall down, I do stumble, though.

But anyway, that pretty much sums it up.

Oh, I actually forgot one thing. My best friend since I've known from birth, who's been with me through it all. Still my best friend today. Fang.

Like I said, I knew him since birth and he stuck with me through it all.

I walked the few steps to his house right next door and opened the door, not bothering to knock.

"Hey, Max," Fang's mom, Eden greeted.

"Hi," I smiled at her.

"Oh, you guys are gonna have _such _a great time in LA."

"I think so. It's going to be such a long car ride over though." I stumbled into the wall and quickly leaned against it, before I tripped.

You wanna know how much Fang's family likes mine? They moved with us when we moved across state to Oregon, to be closer to the FA specialist in LA. Wanna know how much they liked me in particular? They almost bought the house across the street that was two stories. Instead, they bought this single story because they knew I'd have trouble going up and down stairs.

Eden brushed it off, used to this happening and knowing useless I fell or something, I'd be fine.

"I'm sure you guys will find something fun to do." She smirked at me as she walked down the hall. I followed.

"Yeah," I muttered sarcastically, "Like Gazzy's car sickness?"

"Hey, it's entertainment!" she said, a grin on her face. "Fang's in his room, packing."

I nodded and said, "Fun." As I headed to his room.

I walked in the open door and plopped down on his bed, knocking over a pile of followed laundry.

He glanced up, "Thanks."

"Any time." I stacked them back. "Don't forget your swim suit."

"I won't," he mumbled, "Mom."

I flipped him the bird. "Are you bringing anything fun?" I lay back, looking at the ceiling.

"Like?"

"I don't know. Something that's un-Fang-ish. Like a kite!"

"What would we do with a kite?" he mumbled, finally saying something more than three syllables.

"Fly it out the car window."

"Good luck with that."

"Hey, I wouldn't have to worry. It'd be your kite."

"I don't even own a kite."

"Well, you should. Buzz kill."

He glanced up at me and smirked. "Well, I brought some canyons. Does that count?" he held up a small box of _Crayolas_.

"Those will melt, you know."

"I don't believe you."

"Fine. Have fun wearing waxy clothes."

"They're goin' in your suit case."

"Like hell they are! If you put melting crayons in my bag, I'll put dye in your shampoo." I stuck my tongue out at him, sitting back up.

"Mature."

"I try."

**Okay, yes FA is a real disease. If you have any questions, feel free to ask! Also, this video also explains it a little more. **.com/watch?v=dBKEz952RY4


	2. Chapter 2 Then

**I had no homework tonight, so I got to update again! Yay! Hope you like it.**

**7 Years Ago**

**Then**

Max, Fang, and her parents sat in the waiting room.

Max felt her belly tighten and heard blood rushing in her ears. She couldn't help but feel nervous.

"You alright?" Fang whispered, taking her hand in his.

Max remembered how Fang had _demanded _to come along. He said he wanted to hear what the doctor said himself. She also knew Fang had come along to be there for her. Max's parents wouldn't let her siblings come, but surprisingly OK-ed Fang.

She faked a smile, "Why wouldn't I be? I'm the Invincible Max."

Just then, a man dressed in blue scrubs pushed the door open. "Max?" he said, his eyes glancing at the clip board in his hands, then towards the room.

Max and her family were the only ones in the small waiting room.

They followed along behind the man as he stopped in front of a blue scale.

"Please take your shoes off," he said, smiling gently.

Max kicked her blue shoes off and stepped onto the scale.

After a minute, the nurse wrote something down on his clipboard.

"53 pounds," he announced. "Turn around please."

Max turned, facing her parents and Fang.

The nurse measured her. "50 inches. Alright, can you step off please and sit in that chair?" he nodded toward a gray plastic chair. "We're going to take your blood pressure."

Max sat down and Fang handed her her shoes, "Do you realize how stinky these things are?"

Max glared, "Do you realize you haven't showered once this week? You're probably smelling yourself."

She held out her arm as the nurse wrapped a Velcro strap around her arm. He pressed a button, and the machine came to life. The strap around her tightened with each beep the machine made.

"It's only been four days," Fang mumbled.

"Oh, don't say things like that, Fang," Max's mom said, touching her hand to her cheek, "or we'll make you ride on the hood of the car on the way home."

Suddenly, the machine made four high pitched noises as it released its grip on Max.

"Okay, follow me," the nurse said leading them to room number six.

Max's parent sat on chairs that looked like the ones in the hall. Max hoped up on the table and patted the spot next to her for Fang.

The nurse bent down to a drawer and opened it, pulling out a blue gown, "Please remove everything from the waist up, your shirt, any bras or sport bras," he said, reciting the words he had memorized years ago, "put the gown on so it opens in the front and I'll be back in a few minutes."

He handed the gown to Max and left the room.

She hopped off the table and pulled her shirt off and gave it to her mom. Then she pulled her arms through the sleeves.

"Want me to tie it?" Her mom offered.

Max shrugged as her mom quickly laced the two sets of ties.

Max climbed back on to the table.

It was quiet then for a minute or two.

"I spy," Fang mumbled, "something green."

Max agreed, her competitive side kicking in. She glanced around the room, "The soap?"

"No."

"Your shirt?"

"Nu-uh."

"My dad's shoes?"

"Nope."

"The cars outside the window?"

He shook his head, smiling slightly.

"That poster?"

"No way."

"What else in her is green?" she demanded.

"A lot."

A knock sounded at the door and the nurse wheeled a machine on a cart in.

"Alright, Max, I'm about to do an EKG. I'm going to stick a bunch of stickers on your chest and hook a cord to them. Then a piece of paper will print out here, and we can see how your hearts doing.

She nodded, "Okay."

"Is it okay if I do your EKG?"

"Yeah."

"Mom, Dad, are you guys alright with that?"

Jeb said, "Yes," as Valencia said, "That's fine."

He turned to Fang and smiled, "Alright with you, little man?"

Fang nodded but his eyes held suspicion.

"Lie down, please," he said, as Max complied. "Alright, I'm going to put the stickers on, okay?"

Max nodded, as he untied her gown and opened it. He stuck the first sticker towards the right side, a little above her stomach.

She gasped, "Those are cold!" and swatted away his hand away.

"Max!" her dad warned.

"I don't want those on me! They're _freezing_."

"Why don't I hold them for a sec? That'll make them a little warmer."

Max glanced at him out the corner of her eye and slowly nodded.

He began to place the rest of the stickers around her chest, while Max flinched and complained the whole time.

After the whole process was over and the paper printed, the nurse left the room saying the ultra soundest would be in in a few.

Max and Fang continued playing eye spy, Max guessed a green speck in the ceiling, and she won the game.

Later, the ultra soundest came and got them and brought them into a room with three chairs, a comfy looking bed, a big computer, and a small TV playing _Finding Nemo_.

Make lay down on the bed and the female soundest stuck two more stickers with cords to Max's chest. The soundest then pulled a microphone looking thing from a holder and put clear jelly on it and began to rub it on Max's chest. Ten minutes later Max learned something fun, if she took a deep breath, the picture on the monitor would black out and the soundest would get annoyed. It was fun.

When it was over, they went back to the room and a doctor came in, five minutes later.

"Hi, sweetheart," he said to Max in an Australian accent, a smile lit his sun tanned face. "How do you feel?"

He listened to Max's heart with a stethoscope and asked a few questions.

He explained a halter monitor too, "You have about five stickers hooked up to you, and it's connected to a tiny computer you wear around your neck. It monitors your heart for 24 hours to see what your heart does."

"Will it hurt?" Max asked in a little voice.

"Oh, no, my dear! If anything it will get annoying. But you can't swim, or shower," Fang elbowed her, "or get it wet, okay?"

**Three and a half days later, around 11 at night.**

"Truth or dare?" Fang said shining the flash light on Max. They were on his bed, the covers tented above them.

She shielded her eyes. "Truth."

Her parents had gone to a meeting three hours away, and let Max and her siblings spend the night at the Fang's house.

"Are you scared?" he whispered.

Max knew what he was talking about but played dumb, "Of what?"

"You know."

"... I don't think so," she shrugged, "should I be?"

"No," he answered.

"Why not?"

"Because we'll kick whatevers hurting you in the butt."

She grinned. "Truth or dare?"

"Dare."

"I dare you to go in your parent's room and get their hairbrushes."

"That's easy." His parents had gone to bed two hours ago. He jumped off the bed and left.

Max fingered his sheets, her mind racing. What _was _hurting her?

Fang came back, holding two brushes, "Told ya." He crawled back under the covers.

"Truth or dare?"

She thought, "Dare."

"Like your elbow."  
>Max tried, "I can't!"<p>

"Then, you forfeit."

"Do not!" she licked her finger and touched it to her elbow.

He rolled his eyes.

"Truth or dare?"  
>"Dare."<p>

She was quiet. "I dare you to kiss me."

"Really?"

She nodded.

He leaned forward and puckered his lips as if he licked something sour.

She leaned forward and their lips met for a second. He pulled back.

"Well," he wiped his mouth, his nose scrunched. "That was gross."

"Yeah," she mumbled, touching her lips. "It was."

**Review?**


	3. Chapter 3 Now

**SomethingAboutDarkAngels- Don't worry, that's probably not gonna happen in this story.**

**Sendicard- Me neither, I usually end up googling good truth or dares and no, she's not in pain. I meant like what was like messing with her body. When I went back and re-read it, I realized how it sounded. Oops.**

**I decided to start writing this chapter late at night, so sorry if it gets a little weird, at first. Happy late Thanksgiving!**

**Now**

"I have to go to the bathroom," I announced.

"A town's about ten minutes away," My dad said, glancing at me in the review.

"I'm hungry, too," Angel said.

"Then we'll make it our lunch break," he said, "we've been on the road for about three hours. Three more to go!"

Gazzy groaned. "Fantastic."

The song ended on my iPod and I scrolled through, looking for a good song. I clicked one I knew would annoy Fang.

When the guitar started up, Fang sighed. "Really?"

I nodded and smirked. A few seconds later, the first verse of _Stuck Like Glue_ by Sugarland belted out.

"Anything's better than country music," he mumbled.

"Fine," I grumble holding out my hand. "hand the ear bud over. You can't insult country like that."

"No way! Countries better than silence."

"That's not what you said a few seconds ago!"

"Well... I changed my mind."

"Apologize," I ordered.

"To who?"

"To country music and all country music lovers everywhere."

"Why?"

I thought for a second, "Because I'll make you walk home!"

Gazzy laughed, "Yeah, right."

"Hey, you," I said turning in my seat to look at him, "shut the hell up or you'll be walkin' with Fang."

"Watch your language," Mom warned.

Fang snickered, "You got in trouble."

"How old are you," I mumbled, folding my arms, "five?"

"...Six."

"Congratulations."

"Thanks, I thought it was a big accomplishment."

"For you it is," Gazzy smirked.

"...Country still didn't get it's 'sorry'."

Fang rolled his eyes.

"Where do you guys want to go eat?" Dad asked.

"Jack In the Box?" Angel suggested.

"Jack In the Crack!" Gazzy said excitedly.

"That sounds gross when you say it like that," she mumbled.

"Why?"

"It sounds like butt crack," she giggled.

I smirked.

"So Jack In the Box?"

"Yep!"

"Yeah!"

"Uh-huh."

The song ended and Fang quickly snatched the iPod away. "My turn."

About four minutes later we pulled into the parking lot. I unbuckled and opened my door. I stepped out and by then, Fang had walked around to my side. His arm jetted out at an acute angle and I laced my arm through his. I knew what it looked like to the un-expecting eye, but truth was, Fang was the only thing keeping me from doing a face plant. I'd just been sitting too long and my legs were stiff and off balance. I looked drunk.

I laughed.

"What?"

"I'm walking like a penguin."

"I was thinking more of a duck."

I shook my head, "At least I don't look like a duck, Fangalicous."

"Fangalicous?"

"Yep." By then, we had reached he bathrooms.

"Got it?" he asked letting go.

"Why? You planning on being a perv and comin' in with me?"

"Darn. You figured out my plan."

I rolled my eyes and walked into the restroom as Angel trailed behind me. She rested her hand on my back, trying to help.

"Hun," I said to the nine year old girl, "if I trip, and you're holding to me like that, you're gonna fall with me."

"Well... I'll be your cushion!"

"I'm a big girl, I don't need any help." At her slight glare, I ordered, "Go to the bathroom," and stuck my tongue out at her.

She smiled, as she walked to a stall.

Having FA has made me aware of some things. Like how you can always find a handle hold. It just looks like you're being lazy, but really you're hanging onto a counter for dear life.

Okay, wanna test your knowledge? Do you know why FA is so rare? Because it's recessive. Lets say there's a wedding, and the groom has a hundred people come and the bride has a hundred people, only two of those two hundred people have the recessive gene. Then those two people have a baby. Remember punnet squares? Well my parents both had a capital letter and a lower case letter (Pp). Make a mental picture of a punnet square. The two big PP's are grouped together at the top left, and if you land on that space, lucky you, you won't have FA or be a carrier of the gene. That's a 25% chance. Then, the two other squares are a big P and a little p. Which means they're a carrier but don't have FA. That's a 50% chance. Lastly, the bottom right corner (me!) is two little pp's. They have FA and that's also a 25% chance.

So if my husband has FA, our kids, without a doubt, will have FA. But lets say he has a big and little Pp, then are kids will have a 50% of FA. But, I mean, I doubt have to worry about that. That's a really slim chance, and I'm not gonna have kids, anyway. What kid would want a mom that couldn't carry them on her hip when they got tired? Or run behind the bike as the kid learns to balance on it? Or even pour milk into a measuring cup without her hands shaking?

So all in all, I kind of like having a reason not to have kids. I didn't want them in the first place anyway.

Angel and I left the bathroom and walked to the table where everyone had unloaded.

"What are you getting?" I asked her.

"Food. That's edible."

I smirked, "That's a start. But I don't think fast food entirely counts as edible."

"Why not?"

"Because-" I was about to launch into my story about where it comes from, how it's made, and how you can leave it on the counter for like twenty days without it molding- when someone slapped a hand over my mouth.

"Don't think she wants to hear that story, Max," Fang said, "or she might suddenly lose her appetite."

"Good point," I said.

"Tell me what? Angel demanded.

"That fast food comes from cows," sorta.

She crinkled her nose, "I knew that."

"Well, there ya go."

After our orders were made, we went outside and ate because it was nice out. We had played hooky on school today, and took the last Friday off before Spring Break. We were planning on staying in LA for five days, plus two and a half days to travel. So seven in all! We were going to; see my FA specialist, go to the beach, to some tar and dinosaur museum, and Disney Land (that's where the other half a day of traveling came in). It seems like a ton of things, and it was totally expensive, but Dad is some head honcho at some fancy shmancy cooperation and he's raking in the dough. They said not to worry, we could afford it. That was all I needed to hear to light the fuse to my excitement bomb (um?).

Three and a half hours later, we were pulling into a parking garage. I stepped out of the car and shook my legs, trying to get them to wake up. I walked around to the tail gate, where the others were unloading. My wheelchair had been put together.

"Sit," My mom ordered.

"No, I wanna walk."

"Sit." she pointed to the chair.

"But I've been sitting all day! And you can use it like a cart, load it up with bags."

"Max. Please, just sit,"

I glared at her and she matched it. "Sit," she ordered again, and with a huff, I sat down.

Dad put a suit case on my lap. See? They'd have more room for their stuff if I walked.

Anyway, I didn't mind being in the chair. It was comfy, but my legs hurt from sitting all day and I wanted to walk.

We grabbed the rest of our stuff, locked the car and headed to the elevator. I smiled.

I had always loved this elevator, it shoot you up so fast you felt like you were on a roller coaster.

Dad groaned, "Great. The elevator."

"You can take the stairs." I suggested.

"To the sixth floor? No, thank you."

We stepped in and Angel pressed the "6" button as she began to count down. "5... 4...3-"

The elevator took off, sky rocketing to the six floor as Angel let out a peel of laughter.

The elevator stopped with a small grind and the door opened. We stepped out, laughing.

"Room 8oh2, 8oh2." Mom muttered. We followed her down a hall, to the right, down another hall, passing a breakfast nook, a game room, and a workout room.

I smiled at Fang, "Wanna head over there after we pack?"

"Definitely."

Mom stopped in front of room "8oh2" and plugged in the card key.

The door clicked and Mom opened it.

We walked into a family room with Lazy Boy chairs, a couch, a big screen TV, right after the family room, was a table with six chairs, and a full sized kitchen.

A big open space off to the left of the family room, it held one queen sized bed and a pull out couch.

There was only one real bedroom which Mom and Dad claimed.

People began unloaded all there luggage from on top of me. I huffed. When I was finally free, I scampered over to the real bed, "I call it! And so does Angel!"

"No fair," Gazzy mumbled.

"You snooze you lose."

**Fang's POV**

An hour later, we were headed to Denny's. It was dark out now, and everyone was starving. Max had agreed to take her chair this time, and her chin was resting on Angel's head. She was sitting on Max's lap.

We began to go up hill, and I strained a little as the incline increased.

"Show off," Max muttered, "You could at least act like we're heavy."

I smirked, some girls would love the thought of a guy moving them as if they were weightless, not Max, though.

"I think I'll put the breaks on," Max said reaching down, "then it won't be so easy."

Just then, I put my foot on the bar under her seat and tipped her backward.

Angel squealed and Max gasped.

"You're an ass," Max grumbled, glaring at me as I laughed.

We walked into Denny's and Jeb asked a table for six. I draped my arms on Max's shoulders, my hands hung by her armpits. She didn't react, used to people doing this.

I glanced down and noticed Max had just about finished braiding Angel's hair. She pulled

a hair tie out that was resting under her leg. Why do girls always have a least one hair tie on their person?

"Because, they come in handy," Max said as if I had said it out loud.

Gazzy groaned, "I hate when you guys have your silent conversations."

"Don' be a baby."

"I am not!"

The hostess appeared and lead us to a table.

"Wanna stay in your chair or get out?" I asked

Max shrugged, "I'll just stay." She helped Angel climb off and into a real chair.

**The next day, Max's POV.**

"We're leaving in ten minutes," Mom called.

We had spent the better half of the day at the beach, and the sun was starting to sink. I was holding on tight to Fang in ankle deep water. I could stand on solid ground just fine, but when the ground was literally moving under my feet, I had issues.

Fang laughed as I stumbled backward, and he pulled me back forward.

"Shut up."

"Lets go deeper."

"What? No way!" "Chicken?"

"No!" "Then lets go." he gently tugged me deeper so we were knee deep.

When A wave hit, I almost went backward.

"I got ya," he said.

I might as well enjoy this, I thought, because I'm never going this deep again. Fang wrapped one arm around my waist and one through my arm. A wave came and I almost wounded up on my butt.

"You're not doin' your job very well."

"Well, I could let go completely," but he held me tighter.

"Oh, no, you're doing just fine."

"That's what I thought."

Soon we were chest deep.

"Fang, ready to head back?" I asked, masking my nerves.

"Scared?"

"No way."

"Then hold your breath," he said and yanked me under. I held tighter to his arm as a wave pushed me back and I quickly stood back up and broke the surface. Fang popped back up too, smiling at me.

I glared. Then reached out and pushed him back under. "How do you like it?" I shouted.

With his other arm he gave me a thumbs up.

I rolled my eyes.

"Ready kids?" Dad called.

Fang popped up.

"Lets go," I said, trying to plunge forward.

I took long strides in the water trying to get ankle deep again. When we were, I let go of him as he walked onto the beach. I saw something moving in the sand, and shakily bent down and scooped it up in my hands.

It was a tiny hermit crab.

A smirk touched my face as I took big steps through the sand to Fang.

His back was turned as I put Mr. Hermy on Fang's shoulder.

He didn't react like I was planning. Fang just turned and looked and saw the crab.

But what happened next was pretty hilarious. The crab reach its claw up and clamped hard on to hands ear. He jumped and gasped as he swatted the crab off and fell onto his butt.

If you ever met Fang, you'd know he hardly ever reacts. Would _never _ do anything like this, therefore it made this hilarious.

I started laughing so hard my knees wobbled and I wounded up on my butt next to Fang. By then, the crab had let go.

"I liked... your.. earring." I got out.

"Whatever."

Gazzy saw it too, and was cracking up a little ways up the beach. "So you like to wear animal coats, huh, Fang? I never heard of 'the Crab Ring'!"

Half an hour later we were back home. The others went to get fast food for dinner, but I hung back, wanting to shower. Not that I said that because I wasn't supposed to shower home alone.

I went into the bathroom and cranked the water on. Once it was warm, I stepped in.

Have you ever heard the song _Skin_ by Rascal Flatt's? I known most of you are thinking "Ew! Another country song." but it's amazing. The first time I heard it, I froze, not because the girl had cancer, but because of two verses. It goes,_Sarabeth closes her eyes And she dreams she's dancing._ I froze because I've done that. Dreamed I was dancing, I mean. I know you're probably thinking, "Haha, poor little girl wants to dance". But it's not like that. I always feel heavy, not like over weight, but it feels like I have 20 pound weights strapped to both of my feet. And I dream I can dance. Not some gross grinding, dry humping thing going on, but graceful ballroom dancing with lots of spinning. But here's the worst part, I dream I'm wearing a flowing dress that trails after me. I know it sounds girly and completely un-Max-ish, but I like the idea. I like the thought of being weightless, being able to spin around and around, of feeling like I can actually get off the ground instead of being cemented to it.

Suddenly the lyrics bombarded my head.

I began to hum in tune, I mean no one was home. I wouldn't break anyone's ears.

_**Sarabeth is scared to death To hear what the doctor will say She hasn't been well Since the day that she fell And the bruise, it just won't go away So she sits and she waits with her mother and dad Flips through an old magazine Till the nurse with a smile Stands at the door And says will you please come with me  
>Sarabeth is scared to death Cause the doctor just told her the news Between the red cells and white Something's not right But we're gonna take care of you<br>Six chances in ten it won't come back again With the therapy were gonna try It's just been approved It's the strongest there is I think we caught it in time  
>Sarabeth closes her eyes And she dreams she's dancing Around and around without any cares And her very first love is holding her close And the soft wind is blowing her hair<br>Sarabeth is scared to death As she sits holding her mom Cause it would be a mistake For someone to take A girl with no hair to the prom  
>For, just this morning right there on her pillow Was the cruelest of any surprise And she cried when she gathered it all in her hands The proof that she couldn't deny<br>Sarabeth closes her eyes And she dreams she's dancing Around and around without any cares And her very first love was holding her close And the soft wind is blowing her hair  
>Its quarter to seven That boys at the door And her daddy ushers him in And when he takes off his cap They all start to cry Cause this mornin where his hair had been Softly she touches just skin<br>And they go dancin Around and around without any cares And her very first true love is holding her close And for a moment she isn't scared**_

I loved that song, it always mad me smile. Funny how most people had the opposite reaction.

**Woo! That was about three thousand words (Not including song lyrics)!**


	4. Chapter 4 Then

**Salvatore-Whore- I'm sorry you lost your mom, and I may have no right to say that because I've never lost someone that close to me. Did she like to dance a lot? She must have, if she dreamed about it. :)**

**Okay, just so you know, the story is going to alternate between Now and Then. In the the "Now" chapters, they're (Max and Fang) always going to be sixteen (unless they have a birthday). In the "Then" chapters, age changes. The first one they were nine. This one, they're seven.**

**Gazzy's 14 in the Now chapters, but in this Then chapter he's 5. And Angel hasn't been born yet. Iggy's 6 and Nudge is 3.**

**Then**

"Do you think Bloody Marry's gonna come out?" Max wondered, sticking her toe in the lake.

"Bloody Mary comes out of mirrors, stupid," Fang murmured. Bloody Mary was some legend that if you went into the bathroom, closed the door, and turned the lights off, then spun around three times saying, "Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary, Bloody Mary," she was supposed to appear.

"Well I heard story that her kids drowned in a lake and crawl out at nights."

"Really? I didn't know she and her husband had kids."

"I guess they do... And they're gonna eat you!" Max shouted, and pushed Fang backwards.

"No they won't!"

"If you say so..."

"If they come to me, I'll tell them to go find you first!"

Max laughed. "Think they're makin' s'mores over there?" she asked, hooking her thumb over her shoulder towards the fire. It was glowing brightly in the night.

They had gone to spend a week at the lake. The two families were squished into one house.

"I hope so."

"Race ya!" Max took off bolting, her long legs giving her a better advantage.

Fang followed behind swiftly, but soon caught up. They touched down at the fire at the same time.

"What are you guys making?" Fang asked.

"Hot dogs."

"No s'mores?" Max pouted.

"After dinner," her mom replied, her plate resting on baby belly.

"It won't make a difference when I eat it," she grumbled plopping down into the sand.

"How many hot dogs, Max?" Fang's dad, Jimmy asked.

"Three," she said, a smile on her face.

"Fatty," Iggy snickered.

Max stuck out her tongue at him.

None of the adults argued, used to Max's big appetite.

"Fang?"

"Three, too."

"Two?"

"No, three."

"Your brother's just as fat as I am, then." Max said to Iggy.

"No one's fat," Eden sighed.

"Except Mom," Gazzy giggled, looking at his mom's belly.

The other kids giggled along.

"That's half a pack of hot dogs," Jimmy mumbled.

"Wanna have an eating contest?" Max whispered to Fang, knowing if the grown ups heard, they wouldn't let the kids.

"You're on!"

**Later that night.**

"Fang? You awake?" Max hissed.

"What?"

"Sh!"

"What?" he whispered.

"Lets go to the lake."

"Why?"

"I wanna see if we see anything."

"Okay," he mumbled, standing up.

"Don't wake the others."

All five kids were sleeping in make shift beds in the family room. The adults were up stairs, in a loft. It was just an open space, no bathroom, and it had a half wall that you could look over and see the kids.

Max followed behind Fang as they tip-toed around the sleeping lumps and outside.

"So what do you think were supposed to see?" Fang wondered.

"I don't know. Faces in the water? Do you think were supposed to do something? Or say something?"

"No. I've never heard of anyone doing that."

"So were gonna sit and look into the water?"

"I guess."

"This isn't gonna be as fun as I thought is was gonna be."

Fang shrugged, "We could catch frogs."

"Oh! I know what it was!"

"_What?"_

"If you go in a lake at night, her kids come up and pull you into the water and drown you."

"Oh." By then they had reached the lake. "Well, you first!"

"No way."

"It was your idea."

Max put her foot in, "I don't want to get all wet." she held the edge her PJ pants so they didn't get wet.

Fang put his foot in too. They stared at the water, waiting for something to happen.

"_Where _are they?" Max demanded.

"Well, if doing the Bloody Mary thing didn't work, I don't this will work either."

Max sighed, pulling her foot out, "This stinks."

A devilish grin etched Fang's face, "We could play a prank."

Max's eyes met his, "On who?"

"Iggy," they said at the same time.

"How do you put this on?"

"I don't know, I've never used make up. But this goes on the lips and this goes on the back part of your eye," Max said, pointing to her eye lid.

"Like this?"

"Yeah." Fang scribbled the lipstick on Iggy's face while Max coated on eye shadow.

"You sure your mom won't get mad?"

"No, she won't mind."

"Where's the cricket?"

"In the jar over there." he pointed.

"Go get it."

He came back holding the jar.

"What do you want to do?"

"I'll put the cricket on his face."

"Okay. Ready?"

He nodded.

"Go!" she hissed.

He set the cricket on Iggy's nose, hoping he wouldn't hop off.

Fang quickly crawled into bed as Max stuck her finger in Iggy's ear waking him up, as she rushed back to bed.

"What?" Iggy mumbled, blinking. As the cricket came into sight, he froze. He _hated _crickets. A scream of terror erupted as he frantically swatted at his nose.

In that instant everyone sat up, awake, Max and Fang fell backwards, rolling with laughter as the parents rushed downstairs.

Jeb reached Iggy first, "What's the matter? Are you okay? What happened to your face!"

"There was a cricket," he sobbed, "on my face!"

"Oh god good," Jimmy murmured.

Eden, kneeling beside him, pulled Iggy into her arms, "Are you alright, baby?"

He nodded.

"What happened to your face?"

"Nothing," he sniffed.

Valencia reached out and swiped her finger along Iggy's bottom lip. She rubbed her fingers together and sniffed it, "I's just make up."

"Make up?"

That's when Jimmy noticed Max and Fang, their faces red as they tried to hold in laughter.

"What did you two do?" he demanded. The other kids turned to stare at them.

"Nothing," Fang said.

"He must've sleep walked!"

"Uh-huh, right up stairs and into our bags?" Eden glared, hands on hips.

Jeb quickly turned on the kitchen light so they could finally see everyone clearly.

For the next half hour, Eden scrubbed the cakes of make up off Iggy's face, as Max and Fang were brought up stairs and lectured. They had to spend the next two days in the house and weren't allowed to go boating, fishing, or berry picking up in the mountains.

"This is _fun_," Max mumbled, looking where to fit her blue puzzle piece.

"I think it was worth it," Fang said, tossing a piece at Max.

She dodged it, "Why?"

"Did you _see_ Iggy's face?"

And just like that, they were laughing all over again.

The two days of boredom passed, and they were on their last full day of the trip.

Jeb helped Valencia on to the boat and helped her on to a bench.

"Next," he said, lifting Nudge, then Max on to the boat. Fang was determined to climb into the boat by himself, even though he kept falling into the water.

"Fang we need to leave soon, son. Do you want help?"

"No." With a grunt he heaved himself into the boat, finally.

"Told ya, I could do it," Fang grinned.

"You were right, good job," Jeb patted Fang's back, "You might have to help me get the rest of the kids out of the boat."

"I could!"

"I bet you could." Jeb grinned, then walked over to the adults.

"Everyone got their life jackets on?"

"Yep!" All five kids were stumbling around in their bulky orange vests.

"We're about to go, so sit down. Nudge, come here." she waddled over to Eden.

They spent the rest of the day flying through the lake, taking turns in the inner tube attached to the back of the boat. At one point, Max was riding in the tube when it over turned. Fang had jumped into the water just to make sure she was alright.

When they all came home it was dark and they were all sunburned, with pink noses the kids liked to poke to annoy each other.

The next day on their way home, Valencia had gone into labor, four weeks early.

**Review please?**


	5. Chapter 5 Now

**Sendicard- It depends on your view of last chapter, it could have been a filler or like proof that Max did have normal functions once.**

**Salvatore-Whore- I'm really sorry to hear that :( dancing is amazing. You could carry on her love of dancing! **

**Esperanza12- No worries!**

**Thank you all for reading/reviewing. I'm sorry I haven't updated! I've been really sick all week and just the thought of having the laptop resting on my stomach or lap made me feel worse. But I wrote this as soon as I felt better! It's almost 3,000 words! Yay!**

**Now**

I heard Fang walk to the bathroom and I sat up. We were seeing the specialist today, and going to the tar museum. I see the specialist once a year, and its the same old thing. Just a bunch of tests to see how much I've progressed over the years. There's this one test where you put a bunch of pegs in a cork board and see how many you can get in before the minutes up. I'm proud to say I've always gotten 17 pegs in every time I take the test.

There's another test where they try to have me walk a straight line, and last time I did it, Gazzy had literally fallen over laughing because I walked like a drunk person. Jerk. He wound up with my cup up of water crushed over his head.

We've always gone to the tar museum, nothing new. It's kinda cool though, it has a bunch of ice age animal maniacs and well, tar. They even have a huge pit of tar outside the museum -man, does it stink- and it has three mammoths down by it. One's stuck in the tar, another has its trunk wrapped around the other's, trying to help pull it out, and then it has baby, I can't remember what it was doing. Probably running around, scared.

I got up and walked over to the couch, pushing a sleeping Gazzy over as he complained.

I clicked on the TV and grabbed the laptop Mom had brought. Her Facebook page was opened up and I couldn't help but room my eyes. She was one of those Facebook addicts and _everything _she posted had something to do with FA or MD.

It's really annoying. Sighing, I shut the laptop. That seems to be the only thing on her mind, when I first got diagnosed, she went into hyper drive, determined to find anything and everything that had to do with FA. Meds, doctors, diets, exercises, tips, facts, anything. That wouldn't have been a problem if she had eventually come down from her high. It seems to be the only thing on her mind and it's bugging the heck out of me. Do I really care if they found apples help circulation? No, I couldn't give two shits about it. It's weird, I was born and live with FA and couldn't care less. But my mom adopted FA and has made it her life.

Mom, Dad, Fang, and I sat in a tiny room, waiting for the doctor to come in. We had left Gazzy and Angel at the hotel because Angel was still asleep and there's was no reason for them to come.

"I spy something red," Fang said. Do we play I spy? Yes. Are we sixteen? Yes, and we will gladly keep playing it for years to come.

"The speck on the ceiling?"

"No."

"That picture?"

"Nope?"

"That ad?"

"No."

"The magazine?"

"No way."

"Your nose after I punch it?"

"Max!"

I rolled my eyes as the doctor came in.

"Hello!" Dr. Walker greeted, shaking all our hands. "How are you, Maximum?"

"Fine."

"Great! Lets get on down to business. What pills are you taking?"

"CoQ10 and vitamins."

"Okay," she typed something into the computer. "I'm going to listen to your heart, alright?"

After that, she looked at my back and poked around on my belly. Then she touched a tuning fork to my knees and had me tell her when I felt it stop vibrating. She had me say two tongue twisters that I liked to practice to maintain my talking ability.

After that, we went out into the hall and she watched me walk, while writing down on her clipboard. Then we went to another room where I did a hearing test, vision test, memory test, and the peg test. Again, I got 17.

Like always, they asked if I wanted to donate blood to test on. Like always, I said yes. My mom or dad usually did too, if they were asked.

Finally, we were brought into a room where they drew the blood. My mom went first, not affected by it, when it my turn, my stomach coiled. I didn't mind giving blood, I just hated the feeling. Or how you could watch it go up the tube each time the blood pulsed.

I was sitting on the plastic bed as he nurse began to prepare the machine.

"Are you ready?" she asked.

"Yeah." I glanced away as she brought the needle to my arm. My eyes met Fang's. He was standing next to me. I tried ignore the feeling of the needle poking into my arm and the blood trickling out.

"Ooh, that looks like it hurts," Fang teased.

"Shut up, jerk."

**"**I'm just saying that it looks _really _painful."

I glared, "Well, I'm not a baby like you."

The nurse pulled out the needle, "All done. You guys can go check out, now."

I hopped off the table, clenching my hands to control the stumble. I know it sounds weird, but I found that if you're off balance, and you clench your hands, it helps stabilize you. But it might just be in my head, either way it works.

My mom was waiting in the doorway with my dad, and they followed behind use as we left.

"When are we going to the museum?" I asked.

"Around one."

That was about three hours away. When we got back to the hotel, Fang and I went to the game room.

"I'm so gonna kick your butt in Foosball!" I challenged rushing over to the table.

"Say whatever makes you feel better, because you know you're going down."

"Lies!"

Our game began, the soccer-ball being swatted back and forth the fake flied. Finally, we were tied, Fang was shooting for the final point, when my two goalies wouldn't move.

"What!" I exclaimed.

"GOAL! I win!"

Realization hit me, "You cheated! Cheater! Cheater cheater pumpkin eater!"

"I am not." he glared at me.

"Are, too! You held the stick, poker, whatever it's called! You held it so it wouldn't turn."

"Don't be a sore loser." he stuck his tongue out at me.

"Well, your a poor sport, you cheater." I walked over to a game system contented to the TV.

"Where you going? I thought we were playing again?"

"I don't play with cheaters."

**Two days later.**

We had been driving for about an hour and a half, stuck in traffic. We were on our way to Disney Land.

"99 bottles of-"

"No. Don't even start," I said, turning to glared at Gazzy.

"Fine. Be a bit- witch."

Fang smirked, "Good save."

"That better not have been what it sounded like, Gazzy," Mom warned.

"I said witch!"

"Uh-huh."

Dad turned into an area with hotels and restaurants lining the streets. "Disney Land's about a block away," he said, as he and Mom stepped out to go check in.

"Gazzy, wake Angel up," I said. She had fallen asleep in the backseat.

He licked his finger and jabbed it in her ear.

She bolted up right, rubbing her ear."Ew! My ear's all wet! Did you _lick _your finger?" By then Gazzy had practically fallen out of his seat, laughing.

"You're a horrible big brother! I hate you! I'm telling Mom!"

"Oh, boo hoo," Gazzy said, making fun of Angel.

"Leave her alone, Gazzy."

"What'd I do?"

"What do you think?"

"Nothing," he mumbled.

I rolled my eyes.

By then, Mom and Dad had come back, "Lets unpack," she said.

"Mom! Gazzy gave me a wet willy!"

"Gazzy I told you to stop doing that."

"Sorry," he mumbled, as we climbed out of the car.

"Say sorry to Angel, not me."

"Sorry, Angel."

"You should be," she stuck her tongue out at him when Mom wasn't looking.

We loaded the luggage into the wheelchair, and I hung onto Fang as we went to the elevator.

Once we were all unloaded upstairs, I laid down on the bed. This time, we got three queen sized beds, instead of two.

"Hey, look at that, you won't have to sleep in cage this time," I joked.

Fang rolled his eyes, "You're hilarious."

"I know," I smiled, "break out those crayons, I want to color. Did you bring paper?"

He paused, "Oops."

"Dumb ass," I reached and grabbed the pad of paper off the nightstand.

Fang walked over and sat down on my bed. "Here." He handed me the crayons.

"You better color with me."

"What if I don't want to?"

I looked at him, glaring, "Do you think I care if' you want to or not?"

"No," he mumbled. "I'll take my crayons back, though!"

"Well, I'll break your crayons!"

"You better not!"

"Hey! Five year olds! Can you keep it down?" Angel glared at us, looking over the top of the couch.

"He started it," I nudged Fang.

"Why don't you guys go to the pool or something?" Dad offered.

"Pool?" I looked at Fang.

He shrugged, "Sure."

Angel hopped off he couch and ran to her suit case, "I wanna go, too!"

Later, Angel, Gazzy, Fang, and I walked to the pool.

"Is it cold?" Gazzy asked.

"I don't know, find out," Fang said as he pushed Gazzy in.

Gazzy yelped as he went in and surfaced a few seconds later.

"You sounded like a little girl!" Angel laughed.

"I did not. And I'm gonna get you back later!" Fang rolled his eyes.

I let go, and walked around to the deep end and jumped. The water cracked as it hit my face and I flinched, it was cold.

"Show off!" Fang called.

I shrugged, swimming back to the others. Fang and Angel had climbed in, Angel was shivering.

"If you're cold, go in the hot tub," I said.

"I'm fine."

I rolled my eyes.

She grabbed the pool toys she had brought along. She had a beach ball that she threw at Gazzy's head, some diving rings, and a little floating frog. I'm not sure what his purpose was, really, just decoration.

I laid back against the steps as Angel chickened out and went to the hot tub, Gazzy started diving for the rings, and Fang decided to swim a few laps.

"And you call me a show off!" I called, once he finished his third set.

"Yeah, 'cause you are!"

"And you're not?"

"Nope," he popped the "p".

I glared as he turned and his eyes landed on two girls walking by.

I couldn't resist, "You're a pig Fang! I thought you had control of those wandering eyes!" I called.

The girls noticed and glared slightly, clutching their towels tighter. Fang did a cheesy hand wave at them as he sunk beneath the surface. He swam to me and glared.

"You're a pain in my ass."

"And you're a pig," I pinched his cheek like you'd do to a little kid and quickly swam away.

The next night, we were in the pool again. We had came back from Disney Land about nine at night and decided to relax in the pool.

Disney Land had been a blast. We got to cut all the lines because I was in my chair. After we got off the teacups, Dad couldn't walk straight and almost fell over. I rode with Angel when we went to Autopia, and she couldn't drive one foot without bumping into the safety rail under the car. And Fang had almost tipped my wheelchair over -with_ me _in it- when the wheel got caught on the railroad track. We were going to California Adventure the next day.

I was floating around the pool on my back, the others spread from the hot tub to here. The pool was _freezing _tonight, and hardly anyone was in it.

Fang's back was facing me, as he looked up at thee sky. I smirked as I quietly swam over to him. He didn't notice anything, and when I was close enough, I launched myself out of water, letting out a war cry, and landed on his back. I began laughing, leaning against him, when I heard his breathing hitch. He leaned forward slightly, and I laughed even more.

"I think you should work out more," I said wrapping my arms around his neck so he was giving me a piggyback ride. "you're getting weak if you can't hold me. Told ya I wasn't that light," I wrapped my legs tighter around him and laughed.

He was quiet as he quickly untangled me from him. He headed towards the pool steps.

I smirked a little and then frowned, "You okay?" I asked.

"Yeah, just going to the bathroom." He quickly got out, walking funny as he grabbed a towel, and speed walked inside.

Had I really hurt him? I felt my stomach coil slightly, it was just a joke! Was he mad about it or something?

A few minutes later we all went back to the hotel. Fang was in the shower, when we got to the room.

Mom and Dad decided to get fast food. They got all our orders and left with Angel and Gazzy.

I quickly changed into my PJ's once I was alone and hung my swim suit on a hanger in the closet. I sat down in front of the TV and began to brush my hair. Had I hurt Fang? Or pissed him off? I've done things to him like that all my life and he never had reacted like that before.

Just then, Fang stepped out of the bathroom, in his PJ's, too. He sat next to me.

"What was that about?" I crossed my arms and glared, prepared to argue.

"What was what?" "You know."

"I just had to go to the bathroom," he shrugged.

"Mm hmm, now what's the real story?"

He glanced away, "Nothing," he began to watch whatever it was on TV.

"Why won't you tell me? We tell each other everything!"

"I did tell you what it was!"

"You told me a lie, I just wanted to know if you were okay. You never just left like that before."

"It was nothing! Just drop it!"

I glared, "Fine," I mumbled, standing, and walking out of the room. The door banged shut behind me.

Shit. I forgot my room key.


	6. Chapter 6 Then

**Salavatore-Whore- That's sweet!**

**I was looking through the reviews and about 3 people said the exact say thing in a row! It was kinda funny. But yeah, Fang did have what you think happened, happen. The big B, (or does that only work for O?)**

**Four years ago.**

**Then**

"Do it!"

"I am!"

"Chicken?"

"No," she mumbled, dialing the number. She put it on speaker phone and pinched her nose, "Hello? Is Mr. Longwanger there?"

"No, sorry." A woman said, "Can he take a message?"

"Well, is it true?"

"What?"

"Does he have a long wanger?"

She clicked the "end" button and they broke into hysterical laughter.

"Oh my god!" Max laughed.

"That was awesome!"

She shoved the phone under Fang's nose. "Your turn."

He flipped through the phone book, "How about Willie Stroker?"

Max giggled. "I feel bad for these guys. Who would name their kid that?"

"People with a good sense of humor. There's a Mr. Alpha Kenny Wun." (**A/n If you don't get it, say it out loud.)**

Max smirked, "Poor guy. Go with Wiener Stroker."

Fang dialed a number, "Hey," he said in a deep voice, "Is Willie home?"

"Yeah, here he is."

"Hello?"

"Mr. Stroker?"

"Yes?"

"Mr. Stroker, I'm taking a fast survey, when was the last time you had fun?"

"Um... Yesterday, I guess."

"What were you doing?"

"I'm sorry?"

"Stroking your willie?"

He hung up as they laughter started again.

"That is awesome," Max smiled.

"I'm totally giving my kid a perverted name."

"No way."

"Why not?"

"I won't let you, because I'm gonna be their godmother. Besides, what perverted name could you do with Dover?"

"Um.. Roll Dover..."

"Yeah, see? How would that work for a name?"

"I'll make it work! Just you wait!"

**1 week later **

Max and her siblings were spending three nights at Fang's house. Her parents had gone out of town, to Las Vegas for the national Ataxia conference. Like MD, Ataxia was also a category, and there were 13 forms of Ataxia.

Max and Fang were sprawled on the couch, watching a movie. Max had been there one night and she felt sick. Her stomach hurt and so did her head. She had no urge to go home, though, unlike most kids who got sick at their friends houses. She was just as comfortable here, as she was at her house. "How do you feel?" Fang asked.

"Okay," she said, even though she felt worse than "okay". She stood up. "I'm gonna go to the bathroom," she said.

"Don't puke."

Max glared.

She went in the bathroom, pulled her pants down, than sat on the toilet. She hoped the feeling would pass, wanting to play with Fang. She looked down and noticed blood on the floor. Was she bleeding? Than she realized where it was coming from.

_Oh no! _She thought. This had never happened to her and she didn't know what to do. She quickly wiped the blood from the floor and walked to the cupboard under the sink, hoping to find pads. Nothing. She had seen the puberty videos at school and knew what to do, but that didn't mean she was any less freaked.

She had no idea what to do now, though. So, she wadded up some toilet paper, put it in her underwear, washed her hands and left. How long was the toilet paper gonna last? What if she leaked on their couch! She felt embarrassed, not sure what to do or who to tell. She sat on the couch, stiff, her back straight.

"You okay?" Fang asked.

"Fine," she didn't bother with a fake grin. He'd see through it.

Ten minutes later, she rushed to the bathroom. She had gotten caught up in the movie and almost forgot.

She flushed the old toilet paper and put in a new wad. She walked by Eden, in the office on the computer by the bathroom. Max repeated this three more times before Eden asked, "Are you alright, Max?"

She nodded, even though her face was pale and her eyes were wide. "Fine."

Eden waited ten more minutes and when Max went to the bathroom again, Eden followed her. "Max, honey, are you okay?" she stepped into the bathroom, closing the door behind her. She keeled down slightly to Max's eye level.

Max smiled, the edges trembled as she leaned against a wall. "Fine."

"You've been going to the bathroom a lot lately," Eden knew what was wrong with Max, but she could tell Max was embarrassed.

"I started my period," Max admitted, tears ran down her cheeks. She quickly wiped them away, even more embarrassed.

"Oh, sweetie," Eden pulled her goddaughter into her arms, "It's alright, I'll help you."

"I don't know what to do, this hasn't happened to me before."

"I'll be right back," Eden left, and came back a few seconds later with a green box. She explained all the ins and outs to Max, and ten minutes later they left the bathroom.

That night Max lay in her sleeping bag on Fang's floor.

"Max?"

"Yeah?"

"What was wrong with you today?"

"Nothing."

"Tell me."

She sighed, "I started my period."

"Oh... What's that?"

"When a girl bleeds for a week."

"What? Why?"

She blushed, "It's just something girls do."

"Can you control it?"

"What do you think!"

"No? You're grumpy."

"It's late."

"Where do you bleed?"

"What?"

"Where do you bleed from?"

"From our privates."

"That sounds like it hurts."

"It makes my stomach hurt."

It was quite for a minute.

"Max?"

She sighed, "Yeah?"

"I though of one."

"_What?_"

"Ben Dover."


	7. Chapter 7 Now

**Reckless and Rentless- I'm glad you like it! And maybe ;) **

**Sendicard- Yeah, she was twelve. Well, he just didn't want anyone to notice it, since he was in a swim suit. And that works.**

**Now**

The next day, we headed to California Adventure at about nine o'clock.

"Go to the elevator," Gazzy said.

"Really? I thought I supposed to push her down the stairs."

I smirked at Fang, who was pushing me. We were walking to California Adventure, since it was so close.

"I want cotton candy," Angel said excitedly, sitting on my lap.

"You got some yesterday," I pointed out.

"Well, I want some more."

I rolled my eyes. We were about five minutes away. We were following a side walk to the big hotel that was connecting to the adventure parks. We walked through the big heavy doors, and through the spacious hotel.

"We should stay here next time," Gazzy smiled.

"Yeah, do you have a few those dollars you could shell out?" Dad looked at him.

"No, but you do."

Dad rolled his eyes, "Son, that's not the way it works. We can afford a fun vacation now and then, but not something as glamorous as this."

Gazzy glared at me. "I thought you said he was as rich as Daddy Warbucks."

"Yeah, when I was like, ten."

"Oh." he frowned.

By then, we had reached the bag check and where they took the tickets

They checked our two bags and waved us forward. Then a lady scanned all six of our tickets an let us through. We entered the park.

"Where to first?" Mom asked.

"That bear ride! Grizzly River Rapids, or whatever it's called." I said.

"Yeah! I love that ride!" Angel grinned.

"Alrighty, then."

We walked through the park, looking at the rides and food stands. The line at the ride was surprisingly short, about twenty people deep. About midway through the line, we went through a separate gate. No one else was waiting in the handicapped line, and within five minutes we were walking out onto the now- stopped revolving floor. We got into the circular raft and strapped in. "Here we go!" Angel said, giddy, as the rafting began moving down stream.

"See the drains in the bottom of the raft? Put you foot over it because water shoots out of them at the end." Gazzy said.

"Why'd we go on a water ride first? We're going to freeze on the over rides." Mom said.

We began going up diagonally, on a conveyer belt type thing. There were pipes above, and one was purposely leaking. It leaked on my Dad's head and he flinched, "Shit! I forgot about that thing. Man, it's cold!"

Angel gasped, "You said a bad word!"

The conveyer belt ended, and we drifted back into the water.

"I feel bad for you, Angel." I said as we headed towards a tunnel.

"Why?"

"Because your sitting on the heaviest side."

"So?"

"So, that sides gonna get the wettest," I said as we entered the tunnel. The water was rough, sloshing against the sides and sending the boat spinning. Buckets of water splashed over the side and got Angel, Dad, and Fang drenched.

Angel screamed, as Dad and Fang cursed.

I couldn't help it, I started laughing. That's why I love this ride, it's always funny. We got out of he tunnel, me, Mom, and Gazzy mostly dry. We went up another conveyer belt, down a slide, and through some more rough water. We had just about reached the end of the ride when water jetted out through the drains.

"Crap!"

"God!"

Gazzy laughed, his drain hadn't shot out water. "Told you to cover it!"

We got through about four more rides, before we noticed the dark clouds. We were in line for another ride when it started to rain. "Uh oh," I looked up at the sky.

"Lets go to a shop and wait it out." Mom said.

We were on our way to the shop when buckets of water started falling. The walk ways were forming a small pond and the water would reach up to people's ankles in certain areas. An announcement came on soon after that, "Hey folks, I'm sorry to say that the rides of California Adventure are going to be closed for the next hour, due to the weather. We're sorry for the inconvenience, and we hope you enjoy the rest of your day at California Adventure.

We paused for a second, waiting for another announcement.

"Guys, why don't we just head home? We can get food and rent a movie and just hang out at the hotel," Dad suggested.

So, with that we said, "Fuck you, California Adventure," and left.

**Fang's POV **

That nigh Max and I were alone again while the others got a movie. She was beyond tired, not that she'd admit it. You could see it in her eyes. Or by the way she walked. She walked worse when she was tired and she could barely take two steps without stumbling. She was in the kitchen making a cream cheese bagel. I was watching some show on TV. Was it me, or were shows always more stupid at hotels?

Max walked back to family room, focusing and watching her feet. I offered to help her earlier, but she was stubborn. Like I had predicted, she dropped the bagel onto the floor, face down. She had been paying too much attention to her feet, and when her wrist twitched, she didn't have enough time to grab the bagel before it hit the floor. She sighed as she quickly buried her face in her hands, her hair slid forward, hiding her face even more.

"You okay?"

"Yeah," she mumbled, her voice stuffy. She bent down, stumbled, bent down again, grabbed her bagel, and went back into the kitchen. I knew she was upset. I don't know what you're thinking, but you're probably wrong why you think she's upset. She was frustrated at herself, frustrated that she wasn't more careful, frustrated that she didn't pay more attention to the bagel, frustrated that she didn't ask for help.

I stood up and walked into the kitchen. "Sit down, I'll make it."

"I got it."

"Sit down."

"No, I'm fine."

I scooped her up, one hand under her knees, the other on her back.

She gasped. "Fang! Put me down!"

I set her on the couch as she huffed out a breath.

I went back to the kitchen and began making her a new bagel.

**Max's POV**

We were about ten minutes from home, and the rain was pouring down.

"Change the song," he complained.

"Fine," I mumbled skipping the song. _Girlfriend _by Avril Lavigne came on.

"Like this is any better."

"You choose then, you butt hole," I tossed the iPod into his lap.

"I will!"

"Good, have fun!" He began skimming through my songs as Dad pulled into the driveway.

"We're home!" he announced.

"Thanks, Professor Obvious." I said as Angel cheered.

"Professor?" Fang asked.

"Well, everyone says, 'Captain Obvious' so I thought I'd change it."

"There's a reason they say, 'Captain'." he unbuckled.

"You, shut up."

Fang was nice enough to help me get my luggage to my room before he went home.

"Bye, Jerk." I called.

"Bye, Bitch," he called back.

I rolled my eyes.

Tomorrow was Sunday. I had one day to recuperate before for school started. 'Course if I felt shitty, I can always miss. Because of FA, it make me feel exhausted and sick a lot and I'm allowed to miss as many days as I need to, because of my IEP (individualized education plan, I think). Not that I don't use it to my advantage sometimes, (wink wink, nudge nudge). A few other things are accommodated, too. Like I get to leave class five minutes early, to beat the crowd.

I laid down, not bothering to unpack. It was about ten at night, and I was exhausted.

The next day, I walked over to Fang's house.

"Hey Jimmy," I called wiping my feet on the rug, so I wouldn't track water and mud over the house.

"Hey, Max," he called from the kitchen. "How was California?"

I walked into the kitchen and leaned against the counter. "Fun. Gazzy got left at a pit stop on the way home."

Jimmy laughed, "Really? Poor guy. Is he really that forgettable?" I smirked and headed to Fang's room, "Kinda. We thought it was a miracle that he shut up until we realized he was gone."

Jimmy laughed again, as I entered Fang's room. The lights were turned off, and there was a figure laying under the covers. It was almost elven! Lazy ass. I walked over to the bed and flopped down. Fang didn't budge. I lifted the covers and climbed under them. I felt like we were kids again, when we'd have sleep overs and sit under the covers like this.

"Fang," I poked him, "wake," poke, "up." Poke.

He groaned, and pushed me away, "Go away."

"Nope, get up."

He sighed.

"I'll get Angel."

"Think I care?"

"I'll dump cold water on you."

"You can't even carry a glass of water in here with out it spilling out down the hallway."

"I can, too! And that was mean."

"Think I care?"

I glared, and kicked his side. "Fine, be an ass." I crawled out and stood. Luck must have been on my side because guess what I sawsitting on his nightstand? A cup of water. I smirked and grabbed it. What? He was mean! I pulled back the covers and dumped the cup on his head.

"What the hell!" he jerked up right, and wiped the water out of his eyes.

I smirked, "Well, at least you're awake now."

"What was that for!"

"You said I couldn't get a cup of water in here and I did!"

"That was off my nightstand!"

"Oh. Right. Well I told you I was going to throw cold water on you if you didn't wake up!"

He sighed and flopped down on his bed. "You're annoying."

"You're mean."

Later that day, Iggy, Fang, and I were playing the Wii.

"That's cheating."

"How? The game let me do it!"

"Cheater..."

I hit Iggy over the back of the head.

"Ow!"

"Wimp."

"Oh no, Max!" Fang stepped forward, and grabbed my waist pulling me backward, I yelped, as my Mii missed the tennis ball.

"Fang! God!"

He and Iggy started laughing. "I... thought you... were... gonna fall," he said, between laughs.

I rolled my eyes.

"And pay backs a bitch," he snickered.

"How was that pay back?" my eyebrows came together.

"You missed the ball... and Iggy won."

I glanced over my shoulder at the TV. Iggy's Mii was parading around while mine sulked in the backward.

"You suck. I hope you're Mii dies."

"Miis can't die."

"If I say they can die, then they can die!"

Iggy rolled his eyes.

"You guys are strange," Nudge said, walking in and plopping down onto the couch.

"Who says strange? It's like when people say odd. It just sounds weird. Or should I say _strange_?" I snickered as Nudge glared at Iggy.

I came home later that night and went to my room. It was little after nine. I crawled into my bed and flinched. My knees were always covered in big blue and brown bruises.

I quickly set my alarm clock and rolled onto my side.

_Fang's hand ran through my hair and he smiled. It looked out of place, he did smile, but not like this. His cheeks were warm and his eyes held lust. His hair was messy and his teeth showed. He brought his lips down to mine, and passion made my stomach coil. I leaned forward, and kissed back. His hand cupped my cheek, as he wrapped his arm around my waist. I sighed softly, and he smiled against my lips. Man, this boy was full of smiles today. I looked into his eyes. They were full as he watched me, too. Something flashed through them, as his lips moved towards my ear._

"Beep. Beep. Beep. BEEPBEEP BEEPBEEP BEEP-" I slammed my hand down on my alarm clock. God, I hated that thing. With every three beeps, it got louder and more precipitant. I sat up and began getting ready for the day. Fang and I usually drove over together, with Iggy and Gazzy. Fang and I took turns driving, usually taking my car and me driving.

"To the Cripplemobile!" Gazzy held his arms in front of him, like he was Superman.

I rolled my eyes, "Quit calling it that!"

"The Handicapped Avenger?"

Iggy laughed.

My car had hand controls, so I wouldn't have to deal with the foot peals. And Iggy and Gazzy kept getting a kick out of it. I had the car for about four months, and they were still coming up with dumb names like that. I'm sure they sat awake in bed at nights coming up with names.

"You guys need to get a life."

They continued to laugh.

When 6th period rolled around -the last hour of the day- I sat down at my desk and looked for Fang.

I got a pang of excitement. What the heck? Where had that come from- and just like that, my dream from last night came rushing to me. Oh. Fuck. Fang and I had been kissing! I had dreamed about us kissing! And I had liked it! How _gross! _

Just then, Fang walked in the room. I counted my blessings that I didn't get another pang when I saw his face.

I. Had dreamed. About kissing. Fang! What the _fuck _did that mean? I mean, I've never had a dream like that about him before. I didn't even think about kissing him until now (well, besides when i was little)! So, what am I supposed to do now? Forget about it? Like I had forgotten it until now? Fuck.


	8. Chapter 8 Then

**Sendicard- No, thankfully they're not old people. Yet. They're 16, but in the "Then" chapters, age bounces around. But in this one, they're 15. And the story about the alarm clock was funny!**

**Thanks to all of you reading, reviewing, and for your input. Half way to 100 reviews! I'm sorry to say this chapters on the shorter side. I had surgery last Thursday on my leg, so I'll blame my lack of updating on that! Hope you like it.**

**1 year ago**

**Then**

**Fang's POV**

Max, her mom, the nurse, and I walked into the patience's room at the heart doctor's office. Max had to go there twice a year for a check up. FA tends to enlarge the left heart ventricle. Her heart's fine, it's just a check up. I usually go with her, but I hadn't been able to go the last three times.

All of the times we had gone, we've had the same nurse. He had short brown hair and a round face. The office staff was pretty short, we've only seen about five people working here at a time.

He handed Max a gown, "I'll be back in a minute."

After he left, Max turned to me. "Can you wait outside while I change?"

She wanted me to go outside? She'd never asked that before... I nodded and left. I had no idea why she asked that. I mean, she used to have no issue changing in front of me here. Maybe she wasn't as comfortable as before because I hadn't come with her here in awhile?

The nurse, Bennett, I think, looked up from a yellow enveloper and smirked at me.

"You get kicked out, too?"

"Yeah. She doesn't want me in there."

"Did she dump you?"

"We weren't dating. We've never dated."

"Oh. I knew you guys weren't related, but you used to come with her, then you stopped. I thought you guys broke up."

"Well, it'd have been pretty crazy if we started dating at nine and broke up at thirteen."

"I've seen crazier things," he gave me a half smile and glanced back down at the envelope.

Just then, Valencia opened the door, "You can come in now, Fang." She left the door open.

I walked back in, and sat on one of the chairs next to Valencia. Our game of I Spy started. Max had won the first game when Bennett walked back in, pushing the EKG machine.

Max laid back, and Bennett quickly untied the ties. He carefully opened her gown and began placing the stickers over her chest.

"They're cold! Are they kept in a freezer or something?" Max demanded.

Bennett laughed as placed the last sticker on the lower part of her chest. "Okay, hold real still."

A minute later the machine spit paper back out. "Alright you're technician (**A/N thanks to****Raeofmydarkness) **will get you in a few minutes."

Our game started back up, and I had just guessed the yellow glue on the window sill when the technician walked back in.

"Hi guys, are you ready?" she asked.

Max nodded and we followed behind to a separate room. _Up _was playing on the little TV.

Max laid back down on to the bed as her mom and I sat in the two chairs by the foot of the bed.

"Alright, lets hook some more stickers to you."

"Great," Max mumbled as the technician carefully opened her gown and stuck the two stickers to her. The tech grabbed the microphone thing, put a glob of clear jell on it, and began to rub it on Max's chest. The computer lit up in black and white with a pulsing thing on screen. Max's heart.

The tech rolled the thing around on Max's chest, then gently pushed aside the gown some more so Max's breasts showed.

_Oh. _Four things hit me. First, no _wonder _she kicked me out of the room. Second, this is what happened over that year and a half. Third, Max was a _girl. _I mean, I knew she was a girl, but not a girl- girl, with girl parts. Lastly, how bad I wanted to feel those breasts. They were about the size of an apple. Her nipples were pink and hard from the cold.

Just then, something made my eyes fly back to the screen. I saw Max out of the corner of my eye. Her eyes widened as she realized her boobs were exposed. "Fang, you're banished to wait outside. Again."

"Fun." I went back to the room to wait. The image of Max so exposed like that, kept flaring in my mind.

* * *

><p>"Make me macaroni," Max ordered Iggy.<p>

"Why should I?"

Max jetted out her bottom lip, pouting, "But-but, I have FA, and what if I spill the boiling water on me and burn myself?"

I rolled my eyes. Everyone knew she was capable of making Macaroni.

"Fine," Iggy caved.

Max perked instantly, "Thanks!"

"So, Max. Fang tells me he saw your boobs yesterday."

I think both our jaws dropped at the same time. Yes, I had told Iggy, but he said he wouldn't tell anyone! The picture of her popped up in my mind again and I swallowed.

Max turned to glare at me, "Well, he's the one who was looking!"

"It was kinda hard to miss."

"What's _that _supposed to mean?"

"That you have big boobs?" Iggy offered.

"No! I mean, that I was watching the screen and when the tech moved the gown, I noticed."

"Peeping tom," Max mumbled, crossing her arms and sinking back into the couch.

"No, I'm not! If I was sneaking around purposely just to see your boobs, then I'd be a peeping tom."

"Peeper."

I sighed.

It was quiet for a minute when Iggy piped up, "I wonder who Tom was?"


	9. Chapter 9 Now

**Raeofmydarkness- :)**

**Salvatore- Whore- He is!**

**Bloody'Candy'Addict- Soon, soon, soon. :)**

**Nobody- Really? That's awesome! I didn't know that. That's funny that the Queen actually did that!**

**BirdKidKirby- I'll try to go back and fix those.**

**Sendicard- I'll fix that, too. Do you have the rules memorized? And Macaroni** **is the best!**

**Now**

It was two weeks later, and the first day of May. School would be dismissed for the summer on the 27th. I was pretty thrilled to kiss school goodbye for three months, but I was also excited for camp. Okay, more explaining, there's a camp called MDA camp, and all the kids who have MD are allowed to go. There's one of these camps in every state. MD-ers 6-17 get to go. Some kids who have MD are really bad off, and have to have someone roll them over if they want to sleep on their side. So, each camper gets at least one counselor, sometimes two. Girl counselors got all the girls, and usually the boys age 6-9. Then the guy counselors got the boys 10 and up. It's always starts on the second week of June.

Now, I know what you're thinking, what the _heck _would you guys do at a camp like that? But let me tell you, it is a blast (even though the food sucks. Like really bad, one time, they made noodles one night, then pop corn chicken the next, and the following night, they mixed the two together and added orange sauce at an attempt to make Chinese food. Gag. But on the bright side, we're allowed to bring our own food and it's junk food Heaven.) Each day is a different theme, centered towards one big theme. Last year's theme was boot camp and one of the days was themed toward dressing as someone in Army, or Navy or something. The camp is split into four teams, and the rivalry is HUGE. We'll be eating lunch in the dining hall, when one of the teams breaks into their team song. We get to ride horse and get this, there's wheel chair soccer. Yeah, yeah, laugh it up, but it's an awesome game. All campers have to be in chairs, and their counselors push as we chase a three foot beach ball around the court and try to get a goal. It sounds weird but it's awesome, considering most of the kids there never got to play a sport in their life. Things get pretty intense out their. My legs were bruised up and down last year from being banged around.

Anyway, it's an awesome place.

I was sitting next to Fang on the lunch bench outside. Today was Friday, and to celebrate the school had music pumping out of speakers. About eight people (including me) sat at our lunch table.

"-no no no. That' not who it works, the variables get added together." Ella pointed.

"That makes no sense, though!" Zack complained. He was a freshman who didn't have very many friends and he was extraordinarily geeky. I had invited him to sit with us one day, after seeing him eat lunch alone for the first week of school. But, to top off his different personality, he was extremely sheltered. Don't ask how it got brought up, but one day Iggy said something about a blow job. And Zack had know idea what is was. I guess you could call it being innocent, but I felt bad for him, I mean he was fourteen. The others wanted to tell him to get lost, but my underdog instincts stepped up and stopped them.

"It doesn't matter if it makes sense, that's the formula."

He sighed as I glanced at my watch. It was 11:57. "I'm gonna head to class," I said standing up.

"I wanna come!" Ella said, hurrying behind me.

"That's what she said," Iggy called.

Ella and I shared a look.

"You just want to ride in the elevator," I accused.

"Nu-uh. I just wanted to spend time with you."

I rolled my eyes, "That's a lie."

"Probably," she smirked. " But anyway, what do you think of Iggy?"

"I think you two should get a room and for you to stop asking me 'what I think about him' day after day."

"Rude."

"Well, it's not that hard. Just ask him to go out with you. He'll be so surprised someones attracted to him, that he might just say yes," I teased.

She nodded, smirking, "That's true. He'll jump up and down in excitement."

"Besides, if you two do get together, he can do that thing to you, you mentioned," I waggled my eyebrows.

"_What?" _

"You know, 'you wanna come'."

She blushed, flustered, "Gross."

On Friday night, Mom and Eden were sitting in the kitchen, drinking coffee and gossiping. They did this most mornings and nights. It was funny how long their friendship had lasted and they were still tight as the first day they met.

"Hey Eden, Mom," I said opening a water bottle.

They both murmured out "Hi's" too entranced in the magazine to pay attention to me. I headed to The family room. Gazzy, Angel, Fang, Iggy, and Nudge were all sprawled in front of the TV, watching some slasher movie.

"That's gross," Angel mumbled, crinkling her nose but didn't look away.

"I think I might just throw up," Nudge mumbled.

Gazzy scooted further away, "Then throw up on, Iggy."

"I thought we we supposed to be watching a movie, not talking," Iggy mumbled.

"Hypocrite, I said plopping back down on the couch next to Gazzy.

"How?" he demanded.

"You're telling everyone to stop talking, yet you're talking."

There was a pause in the music and everyone looked back to the scene, suddenly a monster with slimy skin jumped out from under the bed and the lady screamed, causing Nudge and Gazzy to scream, very high pitched, I might add.

Iggy fell over backward laughing, "Gazzy, God! You gotta work on that."

I snickered and Fang smirked at them.

"I hate this movie," Nudge whined.

"Baby." Angel stuck out her tongue at Nudge.

Nudge rolled her eyes.

We sat through the next half hour of the movie with Nudge, Gazzy, and even at one point, Iggy, screaming. When it was over, Mom and Eden shooed everyone home, and I was sentenced to my room because it was "late".

When I heard the breathing calm, and the lights turn off, I locked my door, grabbed my shoes, and flash light and struggled out the window, hanging on to the wall for dear life. I turned on my flash light and snuck around the side of the house to the backyard. Thankfully it had stopped raining, but the grass was still slippery and mist hung in the air.

I cut through the small forest, feeling my feet, making sure I had my balance _and _I only wound up with one scraped up knee.

The oak tree had been there since Fang and I were kids. It stood alone in a small clearing. The perfect place for a tree house. It had been built by our parents before Gazzy was born. After I turned fourteen, they said we couldn't go there anymore. It took me awhile to figure out the two reasons. One, they were afraid I would fall or something and hurt myself, which pissed me off to no extent. I mean, why didn't they come right out and say it? Two, they thought Fang and I would go there and have sex. _Beyond _gross. Fang's face popped into my head. I hadn't had anymore of those dreams (thank god). I'm still shocked that I had dreamed about something like that. Sure, Fang's hands had felt _amazing _running through my hair, and his lips felt incredible against mine, but... um... I'm not sure what the 'but' reason was. Wait, what had I just thought? Never mind.

Anyway, I stumbled onto the grass and to the tree. I bit onto the flashlight and dug my nails into the wooden planks nailed to the tree. I pulled up and began to climb, they were wet and slippery and worn. I was halfway up when my foot slipped and skidded against the tree. So much for one scraped knee. I kept climbing and crawled out of the square cut out of the floor. I gasped when I saw a figure. _ A__homeless person had taken over the tree house! _ I quickly shined the lit in their eyes so they couldn't see.

"What the fuck?" Fang shouted, shielding his eyes. "Oh, hi Max."

"What are you doing here?" I demanded.

"Stalking you."

"I'd have to get here first, then you'd follow me, if you were a stalker."

"Oh. Right."

"Why did you come, really?"

He shrugged, "Couldn't sleep."

"Me neither."

"Hey, what did you do to your leg?"

I glanced. My knee was bleeding and a line of dark red was crawling down my leg. Oops. "There's band aids in here somewhere." I stepped carefully over the uneven wood to the plastic roll-ly cart thing with drawers. I let myself fall to the floor and opened a drawer.

"You're gonna hurt yourself," he bumped me aside.

I pushed him back, "I'm a big girl, I can do it."

He pushed me, further this time. "I know where it is."

I huffed out a breath, "Why are you so annoying?"

"Why are you always hurting yourself?" he dug in another drawer and pulled out a white brand aid wrapper.

"Why are you a jerk?" I whispered. I watched as he pulled the wrapper of the band aid off, then placed it on my knee and pulled off the two white tabs. I heard my breathing as I looked down at his thick brown hair. His breathing tickled my leg and when his deep dark eyes found mine, he gave me a half smile, revealing a dimple. My heart pounded as fast as a hummingbird's; my stomach clenched.

Fang creased the band aid gently, "There you go." He whispered back. It was quiet, as he looked into my eyes. I noticed he hadn't moved his hand from my leg.

Suddenly, something in me snapped.

"I should head back." I quickly scooted back and boosted myself off the ground.

"Um, yeah," he nodded, "bye."

I quickly climbed down, earning a skinned elbow, a gushing knee, a stubbed toe, and another bruise. I broke through the tree line and rushed to my room, trying super hard not to slip. What the hell happened back there? The moment rushed through my head again. Fang's hands... I shuddered. How could that happen? How could I feel that way about him? I mean, there's a picture of us in my hallway as two year olds' taking a bath together! And why did Fang just stay there? Why didn't he move! Most importantly, did he feel it too?...

It doesn't matter. Wanna know why? Because it didn't happen.


	10. Chapter 10 Then

**Sendicard- She was just pretending that it didn't happen.**

**JealousMindsThinkAlike- She is a crazy girl!**

**Nobody- Lord's wife, sorry.**

**Thank you guys for sticking with me, even though I haven't been the best updater, but I hope you guys like this chapter, almost 4,000 words! And thank you for the reviews :] they make me happy!**

**Then **

**4 years ago**

It was the first day of seventh grade, and Max hurried in to her class just as the final bell rang. Max quickly walked over to the teacher, and handed her the "leave five minutes early" pass.

The teacher read it over and smiled, "Alright, that's fine, Sweetie."

"Thanks," Max said, taking back the note and plopping into the nearest desk.

"Hi, everyone," the teacher said, walking to the front of the class, "I'm Mrs. Andrews and this is Algebra 1-2, take a moment to make sure you're in the right room." After a pause, no one moved. "Alright. I hope this'll be a great year and I'm looking forward to meeting you all. First, I'll take attendance," she began calling out students last names' that started with 'A'. She read them weird, Max noticed, instead saying the last name first, she said the first name then the last name. Like instead of saying Almore Haley, she said Haley Almore. Maybe it was just the teacher doing things differently, maybe it was luck, ready to bite Max in the butt again, or just the fact that the class was nervous and none of the kids were talking so the room was quiet, but when the teacher reached 'R' and called out, "Maximum Ride," there was a pause, then the class exploded in laughter.

"Think she's good?" A boy sniggered.

"I bet she lasts long."

It was _then _Max realized that _she _had a perverted name. Her parents had given her a perverted name! She had felt bad for those people with hinting names, and now, she was one of them! Glaring at no one in particular, Max raised her hand, and called out, "Here," here voice was even and calm, yet it dared anyone else to make fun of her. She felt all eyes land on her as she lowered her hand. She ignored the stares and the quiet whispers of surprise, as the teacher continued on. After a minute, the kids finally blinked the glue out of their eyes and stopped staring and Max sighed in relief. But as she began to relax, the boy in front of her turned to gawk. Max got ready to mumble something about taking a picture so it'd last longer, when he said, "I thought it was a nice name."

**After School**

Max marched into Fang's house. They didn't have lunch or any classes together and Max had to stay late after school to get her text books.

She banged open Fang's door and glared at him, her hands on her hips, "Out," she ordered Iggy, who rolled his eyes but left. She turned to Fang, "Did you know?" she demanded, readjusting her footing so she wouldn't stumble.

"Know what?"

"Know that I have a perverted name!"

"You _what?_

"My name! Maximum Ride? Did you know?"

Fang paused, realization hitting like a bomb, then fell over backwards on his bed, laughing, "Oh, shit! I never noticed that before! Maximum Ride!" His laughter grew louder.

"Shut up! It's not funny!"

"It's kinda funny," his laughter starting to die down. He sat back up.

"But you never noticed?"

"No."

"Liar!" She accused stepping forward and shoving him backwards again so he fell on to the bed.

"I am not!" he grabbed her arm and yanked her on to the bed, too.

"You should've heard all the classes, Fang! I think one kid even wet his pants he laughed so hard!"

"Well, it could be worse."

"How?"

"You could have been the guy walking all over school with a booger in his nose."

"That really happened?"

"Yeah I had like, four classes with him."

"And you didn't say anything!" she laughed.

"Nope," he said, popping the 'P'.

"You're horrible!" she said, still laughing.

"Whatever you say, Sex Ride."

Max slap his arm and stood up.

"Where you goin'?"

"To bitch at my parents. Wanna come?"

"Heck yeah," He stood up, and followed her out the door, "Maximum Ride. Ha! I don't even have to try to think of a funny name!... Ow!"

They entered Max's house. Her mom, dad, and Eden were spread out in the kitchen talking.

"How come," Max said, interrupting, "you named me Maximum Ride?" her voice held an undertone, as if she expected them to realize how it sounded when put together.

"Well," her dad said slowly, trying to think of the right way to phrase it, "your mom didn't want you to have a common name. We wanted something unique, something unheard of. Plus, we liked the way it sounded."

"So, it had nothing to do with our last name being Ride?"

"What? No." Her mom said.

"Well, that's not how the kids in my class took it!"

"What do you mean?"

"Maximum Ride? Come on! How does that sound? _Maximum_ Ride?"

It took a second for the adults to realize, but as if someone pushed a button, all at the same times their eyes widen. Jeb tried hide his laugh and ended up snorting, while Valencia bite her lip, and Eden came right out and laughed.

"I never knew that's what it sounded like. And what's happening to kids' minds these days! Most of them are twelve and thirteen!" Valencia said.

"Don't change the subject!" Max accused.

"Oh, Max, honey," Eden tried to stop her laughter as she pulled Max into her arms, but Max tried to struggle free, "Nope, you're not going anywhere. I knew you'd figure it out one day."

Max crawled from Eden's arms, "Then why didn't you stop them!" she pointed at her parents.

"How could I? As soon as they thought of the name, their hearts were set on it. And besides, could you imagine any other name for you then Max?"

"They could've named me Maxine." She mumbled.

"Like the tampon brand? Oh, there's a knew name," Fang said, rubbing his hands together devilishly.

Max elbowed him and he muttered, "Abusive."

"But anyway that's no reason to give a kid a name like that!"

"At least it's better than Willie Stroker." Fang whispered to Max.

"Shut up," she hissed.

"What was that?"

"Nothing. So they really didn't know how it sounded?"

Eden shook her head, "No, not one syllable."

Max smirked, "Wow," she looked at her parents, "you guys must have really been sheltered." Laughing, she walked back out the door with Fang on her heels.

Valencia shook her head, smiling, "Max comes to me, madder than heck and you say the right thing and instantly she's fine."

Eden smiled leaning back in her chair, "I just understand Max."

"That's pretty hard to do."

Eden nodded, "It's a talent."

**Four weeks later**

Max had found the boy in her math class was named Xander. He shared the same birth day as Max, he had eleven toes, and when he smiled, his irises seemed to grow, making his whole face light up. Max and him had become friends. They were studying over math books in Max's bedroom.

"I'm so excited for Camp Surf!" Max said, giddy. Their science class was talking a field trip to California and staying there three nights. One night at Sea World; two at Camp Surf. They were going to study the aquatic life and weather. They left on the following Sunday and came home Wednesday.

"Me too. It's gonna be sweet, taking a field trip across state."

"I know and we get out class! The animals will be so cool! Hey, what'd you get for number twenty eight?'

"Uh, x is 14 and -3 and y is 6 and 0."

"Thanks." Max scribbled something in her note book, then shut it.

"Have you ever been to camp before?" Xander asked, his fingers grazing Max's lower leg as he reached for the pencil sharpener. Max knew he hadn't done it intentionally, but she felt herself smile, her cheeks heated up as she gently pulled back her leg.

"Yeah, two times before. Have you?"

"Once," he smirked, "It was boy scout camp and it was no fun."

"Well, this camp will make up for your poor camp experience."

"Definitely ."

Just then, Jeb poked his head in Max's room, "It's getting late guys, time to pack up."

"Okay," they mumbled. They put away their supplies, and Xander tried to help Max to her feet but she shook her head, "I don't need help."

They walked to the door together, "So, see ya Sunday?"

He smiled and nodded, "Sunday."

**Sunday, 5:30 AM**

On the downside of going to Camp Surf, Max's mom wouldn't let her go alone. On the bright side, Max had convinced her mom to let her dad take her. So Max's, Jeb's, and Fang's luggage littered the backseat of Valencia's mini van.

Valencia and Eden were huddled together under an umbrella, their thick bulky coats taking up most of the space. Jeb slammed the trunk shut. "Alright, guys. That's it." He stepped slightly under the safety of the umbrella and kissed Valencia on the lips. "I'll see you soon."

"Don't forget to write," she smirked against his lips.

"Hope you guys can man down the houses with out me," he wrapped one arm around Eden.

She rolled her eyes, "Good luck with those two," she nodded towards a giggling Max, and Fang acting out some story, his finger up his nose.

"I'll try my best. Say bye to your moms guys." Jeb ordered.

Max and Fang looked up, then they quickly linked arms, so Max wouldn't slip and walked to their moms.

"Bye, Sweetie," Valencia said, "and if you get tired, take a break, and if you get cold, I put hand warmers in your bag, all you have to do is crack them like a glo-"

"Okay, Mom. Loveyoubye."

She and Fang quickly swapped Moms, hugging them goodbye, then ducked into the car.

They drove three minutes to the school, by then, the rain had blessedly stopped. Max, Fang, and Jeb signed in at a desk under the roof ledge of the school. Max and Fang called hi to friends as they walked back to the car to unpack.

"The seals are gonna think they found their long lost brother when they see you," Max nudged Fang

"When we see the-"

"Hey guys," Xander ran up to them, as they pulled bags into their arms. Fang resisted a sneer, he didn't really like Xander, he was one of those annoying kids who always passed everything with flying colors. Always found a bright side, always wore a grin, always nice. And he always made Max laugh. That bugged him the most. Fang had always been the that made Max laugh the hardest. Even when they were babies, Max would look at Fang and just crack up. He didn't remember that, but their moms had told them.

He was her best friend and he didn't plan on anyone changing it.

"Need help?" Xander offered.

Fang was about to say, "No." as Max swung a bag into his arms. "Here ya go."

"You got that, Xander?" Jeb asked, locking the car and shutting the trunk.

"Yep."

"Okay. Lets go." They walked over to the bus and stuffed their bags into the belly of the bus, then climbed on board. Jeb helped Max on to the bus and Fang followed along with Xander. About ten seats up front were for the adults, but Jeb helped Max to a seat where Ella was frantically waving to Max and shouting her name.

Max smiled apologetically at the boys, and sat next to Ella.

Fang's friend, Chance sat across the row from the girls. Fang sat next to him. "Hey, man." And Xander sat a few seats back, next to his friend from Spanish class.

The eight hour trip went by faster some how, it was filled with giggles and gossip and a game Ella and Max liked to play. She an Ella were whispering in each others ear as they pulled into the parking lot off Sea World. There, they spent half an hour unloading, finding the right dorm (with ten bunk beds in each) girls downstairs and the boy's rooms upstairs. They had five hours 'til the sun went down but everyone was hyped up on adrenalin and jittery.

"Oh my god, Max," Ella laughed, "you look hilarious!"

Max had found some thick socks and put them on her ears, and since no other girls besides Ella were in there, put two tampons in her nostrils. She stepped up on the bottom bunk and calmly looked at Ella. Her eyebrow raised, "What?"

Ella tried to control her laughter as she flashed a picture of Max, who smiled innocently.

"Hey Max- what the hell?" Fang stood in the doorway and stared at them. Their bunk was the closest to the door and Fang stood three feet away.

"Um... Hi?" Max waved as she quickly pulled the tampons out.

Fang's laugh was low at first, then it turned to full on gasping and snorting, near tears as Ella laughed even harder.

"If you tell anyone about this," Max said, trying not to laugh, "I'll kick your ass."

The class broke up into groups of ten and went on their way. Each group had one adult and Jeb was supervising, Max, Ella, Fang, Chance, Tray, Macy, Xander, Greg, Brooke, and Kyle. Jeb got the schedule of where he was supposed to go and at what time. They fed the dolphins and manta rays, saw the penguins and polar bears, went on Journey to Atlantis three times, saw Shamu (which the kids couldn't stop laughing at because it was so corny), took a class where they dissected a squid, learned about Beluga whales, then went to dinner. By then, everyone was so low on energy, some even fell asleep at the table. Max was grateful then, that they were being shooed to bed at 8:30.

The next morning, they had breakfast with Shamu. A buffet of breakfast food was spread on a table inside. Max piled her plate high with food- reminding her of Scooby Doo and Shaggy- and carefully walked back to the table where the others were sitting. They sat right by the net railing surrounding Shamu's giant pool. After breakfast, the kids were allowed to go anywhere they wanted, look at any exhibits, go on any rides.

"So, do you know you snore, Fang?" Chance smirked at him as he peeled an oragne.

Fang rolled his eyes, "Whatever, man. At least I don't talk in my sleep-"

"Don't. You. Dare-"

"Oh," Fang mimicked, "oh, Bro-"

Chance slapped a hand over Fang's mouth, "Shut up, dude."

But by then Max, Ella, and Macy were looking at Brooke, trying not to laugh at her shocked face.

Ella leaned close, "I think he likes you," she drawled, acting like a six year old.

"Brooke and Chance, sittin' in a box, naked naked, oh my gosh." Macy smirked.

"You guys," Max elbowed Macy. "Gross," Brooke whispered, her lip curling, her face pale,"Chance? He is one of the most annoying guys who ever walked the planet!" Her eyes flew to Chance who was glaring at Fang, Chance's cheeks were pink with frustration, oblivious to the girl's scene in front of him.

"I hope he was talking about some other girl, really, if he dreamed about me-" Just then, one of the giant killer whales leaped from the water, 10 feet away from the kids, and launched back under the surface, kicking up a water waver that jumped over the fence, and soaking the group and their food.

Screams of horror and shouts of surprise erupted from them.

"God! That's freezing!"

"Shit!"

"Why would they have him so close!"

It was then, Max noticed a tiny 5X5 blue plaque with white letters on the adjacent wall stating, SPLASH ZONE.

**On the bus**

On the way to Camp Surf, Max sat next Xander. Camp Surf was only a hour away.

Max had forgotten -regrettably- to put on sunscreen this morning and her face and arms were a rosy pink.

"You look like shrimp," Xander teased.

"Hope I don't smell like one."

He sniffed the air, "No your good."

Max rolled her eyes and smiled, "Wish I could say the same for you."

"What?" he lifted his arm up and sniffed.

"Kidding!" Max laughed pulling his arm down as a voice came on the intercom. "Hi, ladies and gentlemen. We'll be pulling up to Camp Surf in the next minute or two-" the bus broke into cheers, "yes, yes, but first, when we pull up, don't take any of your luggage. We'll find ours cabins, have a short meet and greet, _then _you guys will have an hour to unload and have fun. Go to the meal tables at six then we'll tell you what's happening from there on out." She finished talking just as they pulled into the gravel parking lot of Camp Surf. A sign read, Welcome to Camp Surf. A surf board replaced the letter 'L'. The bus exploded into cheers and giggles, high fives, and oohs and aahs.

Following instruction, everyone went to one of the three separate desks, depending on their last name, to find out which cabin they had been placed in. Max roomed with Ella in a cabin across from the rest rooms. Their cabins resembled shacks. The floor was cement, and sand decorated the lot of it. There were 9 bunk beds cramped into the little room and the thin walls had holes here and there. Somehow though, this didn't dampen their giddy mood. Smiling, they went to the campfire pit where they were supposed to meet up after finding their rooms.

The camp staff -12 people- stood on stage, introduced themselves, talked about camp, their groups, schedules, and meals. When they were done with the meet and greet, Max, Fang, and Ella went back to the bus. Jeb helped Max and Ella bring their stuff to their cabin then he went to unload his stuff.

"Which bed do you want?" Ella asked, as they looked at their bunk.

"The bottom, definitely."

"Good, 'cause I wanted the top."

"Of course _you _would," Max smirked.

"Hey! I never got to sleep on the top bunk!"

"Well, now you do." Once their sleeping bags were unrolled on their bunks, and their suit cases kicked under the bottom bunk, they went to explore. They followed the sandy side walk to the mess hall, which was a bunch of picnic benches outsides.

"This is so cool," Ella said, filling up her water bottle in the water fountain.

Max pointed to the chain link fence, preventing them from getting to the ocean, "I can't wait 'til we actually get to swim in the ocean tomorrow."

"They said you can see groups of dolphins sometimes," "Really?"

"Yeah, they live some where by the camp." "That's amazing. I hope we get to see them."

"I'm sure we will."

"Hey guys," Xander said, walking up with Kyle.

"Hey," They called back. "I'm gonna head back to the cabin real fast and grab my jacket." Ella said, heading towards the cabin. It was then, Max noticed the beginning of a sunset. The sky getting shaded with strokes of warm colors.

"Wanna look around?" Kyle offered.

"Sure," Max said walking with them past the mess hall.

"I heard we have to take a bunch of classes tomorrow about how the ocean effects the weather around here."

Max crinkled here nose, as they began to walk in the sand, "How boring. And besides, don't we already know that? The ocean makes it colder and the ocean makes rain. Lame."

Suddenly, Xander stopped walking and whispered something to Kyle. Kyle nodded, "I'll be right back," he said, walking back towards the mess hall.

"What'd you say?" Max wondered, as she leaned against the chain link fence.

"Nothing." Xander grinned. "Tell me," Max ordered.

He shook his head.

"You're mean."

"I'm not mean." It was quiet for a heart beat as they looked out at the sunset, "It's pretty, isn't it?"

Suddenly, Max glanced at Xander, knowing what he was going to try. She'd seen the movies and whenever a guy talked about- Xander leaned forward and his lips met hers. Oh, she thought, this is what he thought about their relationship, he wanted more. He wasn't a great kisser, Max noticed, he still pursed his lips tight together like had just tossed three WarHeads in his mouth. Max leaned back, blushing as she met Xander's eyes. His face was flushed and he had a grin planted on his face.

"Oh," she whispered.

Just then, a bell rang, signaling dinner. They headed back to the mess hall, both lost in thought. Suddenly Max smirked, boy, would Fang get a kick out of this.


	11. Chapter 11 Now

**I hope you guys like it!**

"Iggy! Let's go!"

"I don't want to," he mumbled, staring at the TV.

"Ella's in the car."

"So?"

"C'mon! Lets go!"

"Fine," he stood and followed me to my car where Ella was waiting. Fang had a swim meet today and he was shooting for a record in the butterfly stroke. Supposedly, I was his good luck charm, and I was supposed to go every time we challenged another school. One time, I hadn't been feeling great and wasn't planning on going. Fang had showed up at my house ten minutes before his race, "Where were you?" He demanded.

"I told you I wasn't going."

"Do you want our school to loose?"

"I don't really care if our school looses."

"Do you want _me _to loose?"

"No, I don't. But what difference does it make if I go or-"

He picked me up as I gasped.

I huffed, "I can walk."

"No, you can't." He hurried out the door and to my car, plopping me in shotgun and leaving his mom's car (the one he drove over here in) behind.

And sure enough, he set the highest record for our school that day.

Ten minutes later we hurried into our school's gym. The pool was on the first floor, the basket ball courts upstairs. We found a bench and quickly sat down as another race started. Fang's race was next.

Next Wednesday was the last week of school and we were being bombarded with finials. Ella reminded me about my lack of studying when she pulled out a study guide.

I wrinkled my nose, "Hey! No studying right now!"

"I won't have time to study tomorrow night, though." She sent Iggy a longing look, which he didn't notice

Right. The last school dance of the year, "Why are you even going to that thing?"

She raise an eyebrow, "Why are _you_?"

I blushed, "Uh, well, my mom made me."

"Then my dad made _me_!"

"That's a lie."

"Sh! He's about to start!"

I flicked my eyes over to where Fang was standing in a Speedo -ha ha- leaning forward, his toes hanging over the block. A blank firing gun shot off, and the swimmers shot into the water. I watched as they pushed against the water, each movement dragging them farther ahead. Fang was halfway through the first lap- he had a huge lead on the others. It always amazed me how he could do that. He pushed forward again.

"Think he's gonna break it?" Ella asked as she watched the wiggling forms.

"He still has plenty of time."

"I think he's gonna make it," Iggy said, as Fang flipped and headed back.

Fang ended up being clocked at 4:58:01, a new all time record.

That night, we all went to celebrate. We walked into Taco Bell laughing.

"Did you see the look on Robby's face?" Ella laughed, mimicking his expression. Her eyebrows almost touching her hairline, her mouth hanging open. I hoped she wouldn't swallow a fly.

Fang shook his head, still damp with water, one corner of his mouth twitched up. "Coach was ecstatic."

"I know! He was actually jumping up and down," I smirked.

"That's why he's called the Fang-A-Flyer." Iggy smirked.

"What? No one calls him that." Ella gave him a weird look.

"Are you drunk or something?" I raised my eyebrow.

"I wish."

I rolled my eyes, "Weirdo."

"Sorry, you'll have to excuse my brother. He's a little slow." Fang joked.

"You know, after all these years, it kinda does make sense." I smirked.

"Or you know, it's from when we dropped him on his head when he was two." Fang said.

Iggy glared, rubbing the scar on the back of his head.

After we ate, we dropped Ella off, then headed home. Iggy went back to his house to crack open the books, and Fang and I went back to my house. I plopped down onto the couch, grinning up at Fang. "You were amazing to night."

"Well, I owe it all to you."

"Whatever, you know that's BS."

Fang smirked, landing hard down next to me as I clicked on the TV. "Maybe, Maybe not."

The next day five hours after school, Ella came back over. We were getting ready for the dance together.

"How are you gonna wear our hair?" she asked me.

"Down," I said, yanking a brush through it.

"Make up?"

"None. You?"

"You're wearing make up. And eyeliner and eyeshadow."

"No way, that stuffs gross."

"You're gonna look gross if you don't wear it!"

"I will not," I said, pulling my shirt off.

"Which dress are you gonna wear?"

"The purple one," I pointed to the closet. It was pretty, very simple, a little flowy, not showy, and if I _had _to wear a dress, it was gonna be something comfy. "Which dress did you decide on?"

"The gold one," she smiled.

"You'll look so pretty."

"Thanks! You will too. If you do you're hair..."

"Then I guess I'll just look like a troll." I stuck my tongue out at her, then pulled off my pants, and clumsily stepped into my dress. Which, of course, ended up with me on my butt.

"You okay?" Ella walked over, prepared to help me up.

"Fine," I snapped, standing up, and making sure my dress wasn't torn. It had a small tear on the skirt but, hey, who would notice? "Sorry," I apologized to Ella for griping.

"It's okay," she helped me put on the sleeves and zipped me up.

"Aw! You look so pretty!"

I smiled, "Now lets see your dress!"

The next hour I spent helping Ella curl her hair and get ready. True to my word, I did nothing to my hair and wore no make up. When my mom saw Ella, she gasped. "Oh, you look beautiful!" she wrapped Ella in a hug. Then she saw me, "That's all your doing?" she demanded.

"Yep," I said, "we got to go get Fang, Iggy, Brooke, and Zack, so we gotta get a move on."

"At least wear a head band." My hair hung to my mid back. I had looked at it the mirror! The back was straight and smooth and looked like it was straighten with a flat iron!

"It's fine."

"Can I at least take your picture?"

I didn't want to be mean to my mom, so she called Fang and Iggy over along with Eden and Jimmy. So all four parents wound up with us in our front yard, along with Angel and Nudge, snapping pictures. After saying "Cheese!" one hundred times, we hopped in the car and left.

After we were about a block away, Iggy started fumbling with something in his pocket.

"What are you _doing_?" Ella asked.

Fang mumbled something that sounded like, "Probably jacking off."

"Nothing," Iggy said quickly.

I looked behind me at him, "Either a stink bomb or a cherry bomb."

"And you were gonna set it off at the dance?" Ella she demanded.

"Gazzy would be so proud." Fang shook his head.

"Only in the bathroom!" Iggy deafened himself.

"You such an evil genius," she muttered sarcastically, but smiled.

We picked up Zack first, and he squished in the back, then we got Brooke and she squeezed into the front seat with me. Fang drove to the dance, held at some Senior Center. Our school had rented a huge ball room with wooden floors and pretty lights. Fang pulled up and we piled out laughing. I clung to Fang to keep from doing a face plant

"And then she-" Iggy said between laughs.

"What!" I giggled. "You better not Iggy, or I will-" Ella warned.

"She was all, 'Oh, God! Not the Prospector!"

Brooke laughed so hard she snorted, causing more laughter.

"You're like- a pig!"

"No!" she laughed.

We hand reached the ticket table and we all handed over our yellow tickets, and earned a blue "Good Job!" stamp on the back on the hand. I had more control by then, and I wasn't holding on to Fang anymore. We walked down a hallway and entered through double doors to find- a giant room, dark with only string lights strung on the wall and a flashing strobe light. Great. Just fucking great.

**Fang's POV**

I saw annoyance cloud Max's expression. A little tip, FA-ers need light to walk. Balance issues.

Max meet my eyes. We hadn't thought about this. Max hooked into my arm, and we entered the room. Music blared from speakers. A DJ had been hired and he sat across the room, with a a few machines spread on a table in front of him. According to Ella, we were "fashionably late". The dance had started at seven and ended at ten. It was roughly 8:30.

We walked on the hard wood floor, seeing a long chain of dry humping girls. Was that supposed to be sexy?

"Gross," Brooke murmured.

"Well, I'm gonna go find someone from that train to dance with," Iggy said, lurking in between the dancing forms. I looked at Max who was looking at a dejected looking Ella. Brooke ran towards some guy with his arms stretched open. Max let go of me and fumbled toward Ella. Ella nodded and Zack and I followed them to the nearest table.

"You guys can go dance if you want to," Max offered.

I raised an eyebrow and sat down, as Zack murmured, "That's okay."

"Why'd you guys even come then?" Ela asked, annoyed.

"Why'd _you_?" I shot back.

And, of course, this caused her to bury her head in her hands. Max glared at me and leaned towards Ella, whispering something and rubbing her back. And that's pretty much how the rest of the dance went. At one point, the DJ announced he was taking requests for the rest of the dance. Iggy asked Ella to dance. Zack went and stocked some poor girl. When the DJ said this was the last song, I stood up and pulled Max to her feet.

"What are you doing?" she asked as we reached the edge of the dance floor.

"Dancing." I tugged her into my arms as a slow song started.

"Fang- no."

"Yep." I helped her as we turned in slow circles. Some county hick song started, that I knew Max would love.

_I must look just like a fool _

_here in the middle of the road _

_standing there in your rearview_

_and getting soaked to the bone _

_this land is flat as it is mean _

_a man can see for a hundred miles _

_So im still praying I might see _

_the glow of a brake light. _

_But your wheels just turn, _

_down the road ahead _

_If it hurts at all you aint showed it yet _

_I keep a lookin' for the slightest sign _

_that you might miss _

_what you left behind _

_I know there's nothing stopping you now _

_but I'd settle for a slowdown._ I felt my muscles tense up. These lyrics were a little too close to home. I knew the song was about a girl who left some poor fool in the dust, but if you listen to the lyrics, you'll notice the similarities about Max,

_I held on longer then I should _

_Leaving you might change your mind _

_those bright lights of Hollywood would fade in time. _

_But your wheels just turn down the road ahead_ She keeps moving forward.

_If it hurts at all you aint showed it yet _She doesn't let the pain (not physical but well, I guess... she doesn't act all wimpy about it No bitchin' and moanin'.) get to her.

_I keep a lookin' for__ the slightest sign_

_that you might miss _

_what you left behind _The few abilities she's lost.

_I know there's nothing stopping you now but I'd settle for a slowdown._ As we turned more circles, Max closed her eyes, her dress floating and trailing behind her. She smiled, her eyes still closed.

_But your wheels just turn_

_down the road ahead _

_if it hurts at all _

_you aint showed it yet _

_your just a tiny dot _

_on that horizon line _

_come on tap those brakes _

_baby just one time _

_I know there's nothing stopping you now _

_Im not asking you to turn back around _

_I'd settle for a slowdown _

_come on just slow down _

_I'd settle for a slow down._

**Later**

After we took everyone home, Max, Iggy, and I walked to our house.

"Night guys," Iggy called, walking in.

Max smiled, holding on to my arm. We walked inside and went to the couch; sitting down. The house was pretty much dark, everyone asleep.

"The dance pretty much sucked." she said.

I turned the TV on, for light. "Well, the others had fun."

"Ella as so thrilled when Iggy danced with her."

"She likes him," I said, stretching 'like'.

Max rolled her eyes. "Mature." She stretched out her legs on the couch, leaning her head against me.

"I'm tired. And my dress isn't comfy anymore."

"Then go change."

"No." she mumbled. "Night."

"Night, Max."


	12. Chapter 12 Now

**Hey guys, I'm going to skip a few "Then" chapters to keep the story rolling along.**

**BirdKidKirby- Can you see the future?**

**Now**

**The next day, Saturday.**

I had another dream about Fang.

I hadn't fallen asleep at Fang's house and came home two hours later when he said _I_ was "Grumpy and my breath smelled." So one elbow to the ribs later, I came back home.

I guess my subconscious was urging me towards something, because this dream was pretty similar to the last. Except things had gone a lot further (gag) than they had before. But instead of Fang's eyes in the other dream- normally serious, but turning softer, filled with lust, gentle- they were filled with disgust, repulsed. He had pushed me away. Anyway, in this dream, I ended up slapping him when he made a rude comment and left.

Now I was in the shower at 9 AM -when I should still be sleeping- scrubbing my hair as if I were trying to wash away the dream. I still couldn't believe I had had a dream like that! And about _Fang. _Gross. I really didn't know what my dreams were trying to say. Maybe I just grossed him out. Too bad.

I heard a "crash" and someone yelling. I smirked. Poor Mom. When we first moved here, Dad hadn't gotten his big promotion yet, and Mom didn't work. We were barely scraping by, so, she had opened up a home daycare. Six months later, Dad got the big promotion. Mom could quit the daycare if she wanted, but she didn't, and it's still open today. She takes care of four kids, an eight month old named Lily, a three year old named Cassy (I like her best!), and two almost four years named Trey and Asher. Anyway, I guess they broke something.

I heard someone knock on the bathroom door.

"What?" I called.

Gurgled words.

"WHAT?" I called louder.

More GURGLES.

"Hang on." I turned off the shower, wrapped a towel around me, expecting my mom. Instead, I came face to face with Fang.

A jolt went through me when I saw his face, remembering the dream. "What?" I demanded.

"I was wondering what movie you wanted to see later," He held up the newspaper.

"And this couldn't wait 'til later?"

"…No."

"Whatever, you just wanted to see me in a towel," I teased, shutting the door and walking towards the shower.

"Yeah! Like I'd want to see that!" he called.

Well, there ya go. Point proven.

When I came out of my room, I found Cassy crying in the family room.

"What's wrong, Cassy?" I asked, crouching down, my hands on the floor, balancing me as I stood on my knees.

She pointed at Asher and Trey, "They took my Kermit and they won't give it back," she sniffed. She hand a stuffed green frog that she dragged along with her everywhere.

"Okay," I pushed off the ground and walked to the boys, huddled in the kitchen, Kermit hidden under Trey's shirt. "Did you boys take Kermit?"

They looked at each other. "... No."

"Are you lying?"

"...No."

"Hand it over."

I held out my hand and they gave it to me.

"First, are you sorry for lying?"

They nodded. Asher smirked but Trey looked guilty.

"Second, if you take Kermit again you'll be sent to time out. Understand?"

"Yeah."

"Third, go say sorry -like you mean it- to Cassy."

After they apologized and Cassy was reunite with Kermit and my mom came out her room with Lily smelling like baby powder, I went to Fang's house.

"Hey, Nudge," I said to the preteen.

"Can I go to the movies with you and Fang?" she asked excitedly.

"That's fine- but we're not seeing Pretty Ponies 2 or anything like that"

"That isn't even a real movie!" "And of course you would know this."

She blushed.

I walked to Fang's room with Nudge so we could choose a movie.

We ended up taking Nudge, Angel, and Gazzy, also (Iggy was already planning to go with us) and all six of us piled into my car and headed to the movies. Nudge and Angel had somehow convinced us to see some dumb movie about whales- partly because they said they'd pay for us.

The six of us were sitting in the cushy theater seats, picking at popcorn while we watched movie previews.

"How much you want to bet Nudge cries first?"

"How much you wanna bet _Iggy _does?"

He smirked, "Well, I can bet this will be two hours of my life I'll never get back." He grabbed a handful of my popcorn.

I glared.

"Mine's gone," he held an empty bag.

"Fat-mo." The movie began then, showing the few opening credits.

"This movie is probably going to end up being some chick flick."

"It took you this long to figure it out?"

He smirked a little, "Maybe."

Fang's prediction was right. When the only hole in the ice that the whales could breathe out of was endanger of freezing over, Nudge bursted into tears.

Fang leaned close an whispered, "Pay up."

I smirked, "Yeah, right."

We walked out of the theater an hour later. It was storming, the sidewalks slick and the air was damp. Angel skipped along singing, "It's raining it's pouring..."

"Well, that was about the lamest movie I ever saw." Iggy mumbled.

"Agreed," I nodded.

"Hey! It was cute!" Nudge countered.

"As cute as a boil covered whale can be."

"That's mean."

"Truth hurts."

We piled into the "Cruddy Cripple Car" -ha ha- and went back home. It was about one o'clock by then, and we all walked into my house.

"Hey, Mom," I called.

"Hey guys," she called as, "Hi!"s chorused her. Our group broke up, Angel and Nudge ran to Angel's room and Gazzy pulled out some video game he and Iggy were going to play, and Fang and I went into the kitchen.

Mom was sitting at the table with a group of cheese covered kids.

I smirked and walked to the stove, stirring the leftover macaroni. "Want some?"

"Sure," Fang said, pulling two bowls out from the cupboard.

"Max! Asher stole Kermit again! And-"

"I did not!"

"And Miss Valencia put him in time out!"

"I did not!"

"Yeah you-"

"Guys." Mom warned.

"And Lily broked the lamp," Cassy pointed to the spot on the end table where a brown lap used to sit.

Fang and I walked to the table with our food as my mom said, "It's been quite the day."

As if summing some form of karma, Trey took his spoon and flung a glop of macaroni onto Mom's cheek.

That night, when the house quieted and the sound of sleep grew louder, I crawled out my bedroom window again. I was wearing my rain coat, even though the skies were clear. After the storm today, the skies cleared up enough to reveal a handful of stars. I was dying to see them, and to get a better view, I headed towards the tree house. The forest smelt clean and pine cones decorated the floor. I climbed up the rotted wood planks and into the tree house. I was kind of expecting to see Fang, but when I when I crawled in, the room was empty. I opened the window in the ceiling to show the gleaming stars. I lay down on the floor and stared up at them.

Some ancient civilizations thought the stars were campfires. Others thought we came from the stars, that we were "the star people". Some even thought the stars were Gods and Goddesses in the Heavens. Asteria was the Goddess of stars. It was amazing to think that the glow came from something that was so powerful, it lit up the night sky.

That was when I felt the tree shook. I froze. Earthquake? The tree shook again, and Fang's face popped into view.

"You!" I accused.

"Hey," His lips twitched, a half smile.

"Stalker," I lie back down, taking the chance to see the stars while I could.

"No, I was thinking hero. I came to save you," he joked lying down next to me.

I tore my eyes away from the stars to roll my eyes and glare at him, "Like I need to be saved." I paused, seeing Fang looking at the stars like this reminded me of the vacation in California, when we were in the pool. He had ran inside. Why? Oh! Because I jumped on his back. It couldn't have hurt him, all I did was jump on his back! It wasn't like I was wearing anything heavy just my swim suit and Fang carries me all the time and- oh. My. God. Did Fang get...? Did Fang have a-

"Holy shit!" I yanked up right.

"What?"

"You got a boner! Oh my god!"

"What!"

"In California- in the pool- you- I hopped on your back, and you got-"

"What? No, I didn't."

I cracked a smile, trying not to laugh, "Oh my god! You did! You got a hard on!" By then, I fell back on the floor, laughter streaming on endlessly. "And I didn't know! How could I not know!" I was giggling like a mad woman and Fang's face was so red, it almost looked like it was going to burst- I had never seen him so embarrassed. And he kept trying to gain some dignity, brush it off.

"You're crazy Max," he gave a strained laugh.

"Don't deny it, you know it's true," I tried to swallow my giggles but I couldn't. GUILTY was written all over his face. That's when a thought hit me. _I _had jumped on his back when it happened. Had I given him a boner? I felt my face pale as I glanced at him. Did Fang think about the same things I dreamed about?

"Did... Did I-" I paused and cleared my throat, suddenly embarrassed.

I would have let it drop, but Fang seized the opportunity to make me blush. "What?"

"Did I, um, give you..."

Fang's face would have made me laugh all over again as he realized _he _would be more embarrassed than me.

He cleared his throat and mumbled something.

"What?"

"Does it matter?"

I could bait him about having those dreams... "Kinda."

"Well, um," he paused. Suddenly, I felt bad. The look on his face was surprising, his eyes were lowered, he frowned, his lips trembled a little, his face pink.

I still wanted to know though.

He inhaled, "It's just you were all wet, and you know, just in a swim suit and well- _cold. _So yeah, I guess so." Suddenly I felt shaken up. He had just responded to my body- not, well, me.

"Oh," I murmured glancing at him, again. He was watching me, recovered now. His eyes were dark now, his lips a straight line. That's when he leaned forward- quick, but slow enough for me to pull away. I though he was going to flick my ear or something- a joke, that's what our relationship consisted of. But instead, he slowly brushed his lips against mine. A pang of shock ran through me, telling me to bolt, but Fang's hands held my waist, keeping me still. I don't think he was trying to force me, but all it did was sent off my alarms. I pulled back, eyes wide.

Fang met my eyes. "I- uh... I'm-"

But that's all he got out before I was shimming down the ladder, falling at the last four feet to my butt and began to attempt to sprint to my house. I learned something important that day, I could run. It was instinct, a gut reaction, fly or fight. I made it about 8 feet before I skidded to my knees and hands.

I swore under my breath, sure Fang could see my lack of gracefulness. I fumbled upward and stumble to my house. It wasn't until I was in my room that the jolt of what happened hit. Fang had kissed me! _Me! _But I had ran. God, why did I run?

_Because you shouldn't be feeling this toward someone who could be your brother,_ a voice hissed.

My stomach twisted, but Fang isn't my brother.

_Incest is best when sister says yes,_ it whispered.

Shut up!

Thankfully, it did.

Fang had kissed me. I had pushed him off. Why could I dream about it but not be able to do it in real life? Was I right to do that? It hadn't felt right, exactly. At least, not then. I mean one minute I was making fun of Fang's well... and the next he was all over me! God, all I had wanted to do was look at the stars. Was this going to ruin our friendship? Or was it just heat of the moment thing? I didn't think I'd able to tell Fang anything really personal now... I sighed and rolled over. I hated feeling confused and worried and hurt. Closing my eyes, I tried to fall asleep.

**The next day**

So it was pretty obvious that I didn't get Fang to go with me to the heart doctor the next afternoon. Mom and I went, with Angel tagging along. We went through the normal stuff- signing in, putting on the gown, the EKG, and the beginnings of the ultrasound. I was lying on the bed, a white towel crumpled and resting on my stomach. The technician was rubbing the microphone-y thing on my chest when her brows crumpled together. She move it to a different spot and typed in something on the computer, and a new graph opened up. She moved it again and bit her lip. That raised the first flag.

The second was when the doctor came in and told me that instead of wearing the heart monitor for 24 hours, I'd wear it for a week. He said, don't worry, it may just be a glitch, but the look in his eyes said different. I knew this guy since I was 10, and he never looked this way.

So, with the heart monitor on, we left the office. When got home, my mom ran to answer the ringing phone. I wanted to go talk to Fang- really wished he was with me at the doctor- but instead, I sat on the couch and turned on the TV.

Five minutes later, my mom hung up and looked at me, chewing her lip.

"What?"

She didn't say anything.

"What?" I demanded.

"Your grandma will be her in an hour."

My jaw dropped, "You mind as well take a gun and kill me now!" My grandma was not the most loving person. She wasn't one of those sweet, sewing ones or the cool ones how gave you money every time they saw you, no my grandma was much different. She was the perfect image of a worn, beaten, old Catholic woman. She was mean and rude and hey! Guess what? She believed that sicknesses and diseases were "God's punishments" and I had FA because my family wasn't religious enough.

"Max!"

That was when the doorbell rang.

"I thought you said an hour!"

"She told me an hour! And Max- I told her the doctor was a little worried about your heart."

I stood up and was going to hurry to my room when the door banged open.

Her watery eyes met mine and narrowed, "What have you done to deserve this, this time?"


	13. Chapter 13 Now

**BirdKidKirby- I know! It was like, "Ha ha! Wait... Oh."**

**Monkeymillioniar- Thank you! That's what I was shooting for!**

**Thalia Michele- For furture chapters.**

**Thank you all guys for RnR-ing!**

**Now**

**Sunday night**

"What the fuck!" I bolted up right in my bed -in the middle of the night!- when someone shone a flash light in my face.

"Watch your language! I'll wash your mouth out with soap for that."

I glared at Grandma, "What are you doing in here?"

"Makin' sure you didn't sneak out! You earned that bad heart for reason," with one last glare that made ice creep down my spine, she left.

Just to tempt fate, I hurried out of my bed, locked the door, and called out, "You can come out of the closet now, Ralph!" With that, me and imaginary Ralph crawled back into my bed. God, she was a pain in the ass.

**Monday**

Thank god no other "check ups" happened the rest of the night -that I'm aware of- and woke to the sound of my alarm clock at six.

I quickly walked into my connecting bathroom and took a shower then got ready for school. I got to take the heart monitor off for fifteen minutes only, so I could shower. I tired to wear a shirt that hid my monitor (considering a sticker was stuck way up by my collar bone) and then safety pinned the actual computer thing to my jeans- making sure none of the cords stuck out from below my sweater. I hadn't talked to Fang yet, but I'm sure he heard what happened to me through the grapevine. I wasn't sure if Fang was riding with me to school, either. Guess we'll find out!

I left my room and tried to walk a tight rope -heel to toe, heel to toe- to the kitchen. Three days of school were left. We were let out on Wednesday and I still had seven more finals to concur. My mom, dad, and Grandma were sitting at the table with Lily and Angel. The rest of the kids didn't show up until eight.

I walked into the kitchen and put a piece of bread in the toaster as thunder crackled.

"Max! I found this medicine online, it supposed to help thin out your heart wall-" Mom started.

"Think it will really work?" I said sarcastically. "Besides, we don't know if my hearts messed up or not yet."

My mom pushed her hair any from her face, "That's true. I was just keeping my eyes open."

I grabbed my toast and sat down at the table. I dipped a knife in the tub of butter and began to scrape it over my toast.

"How about some bread with that butter? No wonder your hearts all-"

"Mother!" My mom exclaimed.

I shoved my chair back- "God! You are such a bitch! I hope you rot in Hell with all the other horrible people on the planet- oh wait, you probably be in the worst level all alone because you're such an evil person!" I marched away from the table, grabbed my bag, and headed out the door.

I banged the door to Fang's house open, "If you want a ride to school," I called to Iggy and Fang, "I'm leaving in two minutes." Then I stomped to my car and swung the door open. I cracked up the heat, even though it just blew cold air. I grabbed my phone out and called Gazzy. "What?" he wondered.

"Get your butt out here, I'm leaving in two minutes." I snapped my phone shut, taking a few deep breaths. Man, she was a pain in the ass.

The shotgun door popped open and Iggy slid in, along with Fang in the back. I was too frustrated to be caught up in the Fang confusion.

"Hey guys," I muttered.

"Max! I heard you heart was shit," Iggy said as Gazzy slid in next to Fang.

I groaned as I started driving to school, "_Apparently_," I said, then began talking like I was from the 1800's, "all my wrong doin' earned me this here bad heart, oh Lordy Lordy Lordy."

"What?"

"Nothing," I mumbled. I stopped at a red light.

"Well, you can tell people you're turning into a robot," Iggy suggested.

"Fuck," I swore, glancing down at my heart monitor, clipped to my belt loop. Maybe no one would notice. Or, you know, I could always ditch. I'd never had to go to school wearing one of these before; we'd always made sure of it. But there was no preventin' it now!

"Or it could pass as a phone," Gazzy offered.

I raise my eyebrow, "If you say so." The machine gave the time, the date, and the time remaining that I had to wear it for. I turned on the wind shield wipers, cleaning off the rain drops. We pulled up in the parking lot. Shockingly –not- my assigned car spot hand been taken, like almost every day. I pulled into the neighboring handicapped space and put up my blue tag on the review mirror. I had refused getting a handicapped license plate and my dad had agreed- for safety issues. We got out, popping open our umbrellas and hurried to class.

First hour had went well- for the first five minutes. Until some asshole in my class noticed it.

"Hey Max, what's up with that thing on your jeans?" he asked loudly.

Fang –the first time I would've heard him spoke all day- opened his mouth to defend me.

But then I realized how much fun this could be, "It's and incubator, I'm hatching bug eggs," I joked, smirking.

Fang smirked, too.

And that's pretty much how the rest of my day went, taking boring finals and making up excuses for my heart monitor. Ella caught on to my shenanigans, and at lunch she told Zack, "It's a hidden camera, the movie's going up on MTV."

So, when school was finally over, I didn't want to go home and face the wrath of my Grandma, so I stopped at the house to let everyone off, then planned on heading to the library.

"Bye guys," I called.

"You're not going to home?" Fang asked turning to look at me.

I swallowed and shook my head, "My Grandma's here."

Fang gave me a sympathetic smile, "Say no more," and he climbed back into the car.

"What are you doing?"

He raised an eyebrow, "I'm going with you."

I put the car into drive and rolled forward, "Oh. Well, I'm going to the library just so you know."

"That's fine. I can catch up on my reading."

I raised my eyebrow and switched lanes, "Since when do you like to read?"

"Well... study guide reading."

"Uh-huh," I said trying to act casual. I had no idea what to say to him now.

Like I predicted, silence fell. I turned the corner -and thanked God when the library came into view. I quickly parked in a space and pulled my backpack from the back seat. We walked to the library, the whistling wind was chatting up the silent spaces. The library was pretty much empty, everyone else had better things to do with their time. Fang and I choose a table and sat across from each other. I pulled out some notes and began to read them over.

"Max?"

"Hmm?"

He sighed, "Never mind."

I didn't say anything and went back to studying. It was just best to let sleeping dogs lie. We didn't talk much after that. We stayed at the library for three hours, and after our brains were fried, headed home.

We climbed out of the car. The air was wet, but thankfully the rain stopped.

"Max?" Fang tried again. I recognized his tone.

"Um, yeah?" I knew what he was getting at and God, did I not want to talk about it.

"About the other night-" he started, but just then my front door banged open.

"Maximum! There you are! Would it kill you to pick up a phone!" Grandma screamed.

"Maybe it _would_!" Okay, I know I was being a snot but, oh well. "Bye Fang."

"Okay. Bye."

"We were about to put your face on the back of a milk carton!"

"And I thought we were about to put you 6 feet under," I mumbled walking to the kitchen, that's when I felt a sharp sting on my cheek, throwing me off balance and to the floor.

My hand on my cheek, I stared open mouthed at my Grandma.

"Glenda!" My dad shouted rushing over from the table.

"Mom!"

I shoved Dad away as he tried help me to my feet.

I was about to scream and shout and let out a string of cuss words that would make Grandpa roll over in his grave when Dad said- "That's it! Valencia, I want her gone tonight! Otherwise, me and the kids are going to a hotel!"

My mom stood up, "I agree. Mother you need to be out of this house by tonight," she said this all calmly, but stared Grandma down.

"Fine! I'll leave! I was just trying to save this family. Have fun in Hell."

She turned and rushed to the guest room to pack her stuff.

"And Maximum," Mom started, but I had already slipped out the back door.

I walked into Fang's room. He glanced at me from where he was sitting on his bed. I walked over, and tried to pull as much of the covers as I could over me.

Fang lay down, his head on the pillow too, facing me, "What happened?"

"G-bitch hit me and Mom and Dad kicked her out. Can I live with you?"

He smiled, not bothering to joke, "My door is always open."

I paused, biting my lip, "Even if I pushed you away?" So much for letting sleeping dogs lie. I mind as well go around banging pots and waking their lazy butts.

Fang met my eyes, "Even then."

Shyly, I inched forward. My heart throbbed and my stomach felt hot. Fang leaned down – quickly, as if I might my mind at any minute. His lips were warm but rough against mine, dry from the weather. I pulled my arms around him, and he held me close as he molded his lips around mine. I sighed, as we turned our heads trying not to bump noses. Goosebumps rose as I kissed back, and a steady ache grew in my stomach. Eventually, I pulled back, desperate for air.

I met Fangs eyes. They resembled his eyes from my dream- the first one, I mean. I gave him a shy smile, not sure what to do or say now. I mean, I didn't feel embarrassed or shy- like you think someone would if they kissed their best friend who-you've-known-forever-and-never-had-these-feelings-towards-him-before.

He gave me an uneven smile, I couldn't help but smile back, my heart thudded and I felt a weight that was sitting on my shoulders since Saturday lift, "That was crazy." He said.

I smirked, "You look crazy." You'd think we'd feel awkward or something after that, but things felt the same... and completely changed.

"You know what I think?"

He raised an eyebrow.

"We should go key Grandma's car."

**Any thoughs/comments/qustions/ideas?**


	14. Chapter 14 Now

**Bloody'Candy'Addict- Maybe...**

**Orangelicious 2 lazy 2 login- That's awesome! They should have done that. It would have been wicked! Some guy (an actor or someone) had the last name Hog and he named his two daughters Imma and Youra.**

**I'm so, so, so, increbibly sorry about the wait. A few weekends ago, I was assigned to take care of a computerized baby. Then on Sunday night, my ten pound dog was attacked by another much bigger dog and we spent most the night at the pet ER. She's fine now though! And then I got sick. **

**Now**

Fang and I stayed huddled together on his bed. We didn't kiss again, we just talked- as I replayed what had happened during those frantic moments and mentally urged _him _to kiss _me. _

"So, did your mom tell you about going to Florida?" I asked, our hands were clasped together and lying on the pillow. I rubbed my fingers against the back of Fang's hand.

"Yeah," the corner of his lip twitched.

"Warm waters," I sighed happily, "I can't believe we're gonna be right on the beach."

"How long did she say we were staying?"

"Like, two and a half weeks."

"And we're sharing a house," he waggled his eyebrows.

"You're gross," I mumbled, even though my stomach jumped excitedly at the thought of being alone with Fang _again._

"You know you'd like it," he smirked.

"Whatever you have to tell yourself," I matched his smirk. "I'm hungry, let's go get food."

I stood up and we walked to the kitchen. He walked a little behind me and when both of his hands rested on my waist, I told myself it was because I was wobbly (even though I wasn't). My eyes landed on the clock.

"Jeez. It's 9:03." I frowned, giving him a sad look. "I should head back home otherwise I'll get 'grounded'," I mimicked my mom's voice.

"Do you want to take anything to eat home?"

_You_ a different voice smirked. I felt my stomach roll, kinda disgusted. "No, I'll just find something at home."

As I walked by our arms grazed slightly.

"I'll walk you home."

Everyone was either getting ready for bed or in their rooms. We walked through the empty family room and out the backdoor, "Do you think the witch took her broom stick and disappeared?"

"I think the bird flew the coop."

"What about the mole burrowing back underground?"

"That too. Just like Jonas was puked up by the whale."

I smirked, "Since when have you read the Bible?"

He counted on his fingers, "Never."

We reach my porch. "Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow?" My hand held the door knob as I started to turn my back.

"Max?" I turned to face him again. His arms encircled my hips as he pulled me closer. And finally, _finally, _his lips touched my mine. I breathed in -not literally- those few seconds before he pulled back.

His cockeyed grin grew and he said, "Goodnight," before he fell back into the night.

I took deep breath, not even trying to lose the grin that had been plastered to my face. I opened the back door and walked in. An "Oooooh!" chorused as soon as I stepped in.

My eyes met Angel's, "What?" I asked innocently, as I headed to my room. I didn't want to talk about it for fret I might wake up from a dream. Take the hint, I urged. "Has Grandma left?" She followed me into my room.

"Yeah, she left awhile ago. Oh, and Mom says you're grounded." She lowered her voice, picking up on half of the hint, "Who were you kissing?"  
>I guess she hadn't seen his face, "A tree. Now go to bed, Angel."<p>

"Fine! But I'll figure it out," she added in a sing song voice. She pranced out of my room. As soon as the door shut, I grabbed my pillow, hugged it to my chest, and couldn't resist the happy giggles anymore. We kissed. We had kissed! And it wasn't creepy and neither one of us was freaked out! He had felt the same flicker of heat I had. And he like it! He liked me! Okay, let's face it, with FA I was never really sure how things would work out. I mean I always planned on getting married, but I never knew how it'd feel for the guy. Would he be able to see through my wheelchair and eventually slurred words and look at me the same way when we were twenty? Would he see me as an equal, a lover, a friend, instead of a hassle or someone to take care of? I mean, I wasn't throwing this all on Fang. All we had done was kiss. But it was nice, to finally picture someone filling those shoes. Who could fill those shoes.

I was careful of my heart monitor as I got ready for bed. I couldn't wait to get this thing off. I had just changed into my PJ's when my mom walked in. She sat on my bed.

"I'm sorry about Grandma. She won't be coming over for awhile. The way she treated you was inexcusable but your attitude did nothing to help-"

"I was just standing up for myself," keep your tempter, don't get grounded, don't get-

"Well, that is true, but things should've been handled differently."

"I'm sorry. I was just tired of her always yelling at me, if I see her again I'll act differently." Not. Don't get grounded.

She blew out a breath, "I see you've thought about this and had a change of heart. I was gonna ground you, but it will be the first week of Summer. You're free."

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you, Mom!" I threw my arms around her.

"You're welcome, Sweetie. I love you."

"I love you too."

She stood up and walked to the door, "Night, Hun."

"Night," I called back.

I hopped into bed feeling giddy. Only two days of school left, I wasn't grounded, Fang and I had kissed! When I first dreamed about it, I was weirded out, but now I couldn't believe I reacted-

My eyes landed on something resting on the outside of my window sill. I don't think I would have noticed it if it hadn't been resting on top of a large rock. I walked over to my window and opened it. A small shell was resting on top of the rock. I closed the window, sat back down on the bed, and turned my lamp on. It was a scallop shell. White on the outside side, but inside it was different shades of purple, pink, and magenta in the middle. The edges were worn and smooth with age, like someone had held it a lot. Who would give this to me?

The memory hit me like a steam train. At Camp Surf, when we finally went to the beach, our instructors said we were only allowed to keep one seashell. At first everyone was bummed; we all thought they didn't want us taking all the shells, but later our instructors told us we could only keep one because it would hold more meaning and memories if we only kept one, it'd be more special than having fifty shells. When Fang picked out this scallop shell, our teacher told Fang that scallop shells represent protection of life. He said Fang should give it to someone he cared about.

I had seen it sit on Fang's desk throughout the years, and now, here it sat in my hand, its new home.

The next day, I sat in my car, waiting for the others. Fang showed up first and he sat in shot-gun.

Looking forward, I said, "I got your scallop." I smiled.

"Scallop?"

"Your shell from Camp Surf."

"That thing? I lost it years ago."

I glanced over, able to tell he was lying by the way he chewed the inside of his cheek. Plus, I saw it on his desk just two days ago. "Uh-huh, if you say so." I couldn't resist a smile as I realized Fang wanted it to be a secret gesture.

We were out of school by eleven that day. It was a half day, we had three classes today, three tomorrow. We went out separate ways when we got home and I went into my room to study. I turned my iPod on and buried my nose in a books.

**Fang's POV**

I was half annoyed half excited that Max remembered the scallop. I wondered if she remembered what the teacher had said it meant. I still couldn't believe what had happened between Max and I last night. What I had done in the tree house had been heat of the moment kind of thing, and I was pissed at myself figuring it'd throw a wrench in our friendship. I wanted to bring it up, to explain what had happened, how she made me feel, but honestly how could I? And then last night she kissed me. I knew now that she felt it too.

After two hours passed, I figured her brain had been fried enough and went to save her. I walked into her room without knocking like I normally did. Apparently she wasn't studying too hard because her back was turned to me, hands clasped above her head as she sang along to some song about hating rap music. Her hips jerked from side to side in beat with the music.

"I hate the beat, I hate the rhythm, but I love the music that they put with 'em. I hate rap-"

"Isn't that song a little hypocritical?" I asked, smirking and leaning on the door frame, watching her hips sway.

She stumbled around, then glared at me, "It's supposed to be hypocritical. What are you doing here?"

"Watching you attempt to dance and sing."

"For someone I kissed not even 24 hours ago, you sure are being a jerk."

"I'm sorry," I stepped into her room and kicked the door closed behind me.

"You better be," she stuck her tongue out at me and sat on her bed.

I sat next to her on the bed and lay back, then pulled her into my arms. "I really am sorry."

"I know," she pushed herself up on her elbows, and leaned down to kiss me. It was more of a peck than anything, but I held her closer and deepened the kiss. There were no tongues involved, just open mouthed kisses. When I heard her sigh happily, she pulled back with flushed cheeks.

She flopped back down on the bed and smiled at me, "You're funny," she stated.

"What?"

She shook her head, "Never mind. How did your finals go today?"

"They were boring. What did you write about in your history essay?"

"The bombing of Bikini Atoll and how I thought it killed off the mermaid race."

"That's deep."

"Thanks. It was easy to write about. What did you do?"

"Uh, I just kinda rephrased how A-bombs are bad over and over."

"Well, we all know _that's _'A' worthy," she reached over and shut off her docked iPod.

Someone knocked on the door and I sat up. Since Max was no longer laying on my chest, she called, "Come in!" Angel pranced in a grin planted on her face as she kicked the door shut, "Hi-i Fa-ang." Angel looked pointedly at Max who groaned.

"Bye, Angel." Max hinted.

"By-ye Fa-ang." She quickly scampered from the room.

"What was that about?"

"Angel being Angel. She saw us kissing last night and she won't leave me alone about it, now."

"Hey, at least it's not your mom."

She glared, standing up, "Don't jinx it." She helped pull me to my feet and we went into the living room. Lily sat on the couch and squealed when she saw us.

"Hi, Baby," Max said happily and swung Lily into her arms. The first time Max picked up Lily, she was surprised that she could. I didn't know why though, she was strong, despite FA and she walked fine most of the time. Her feet turned out to the side a little, but you'd never know there was anything wrong with her unless she told you. Her goal was to keep her walking ability 'til she was at lest 30 but I knew she would keep walking way past then. "Where are the other kids?"

Lily pointed out back.

Max walked to the back door and set Lily down. Gazzy, Angel, and Nudge were out back with the three kids, running around.

"Let's go play," Max held Lily's hand they walked out back together. Lily shot off, chasing Nudge and Max turned to me with a giant grin stuck on her face.

**Max's POV**

The last day of school didn't fly by. More like crawled by, slower than a snail. But finally we were free! Free, free baby! No longer Juniors and off to ring in our soon to be status of Seniors! We'd be top of the classes! Off to college soon! I felt giddy hyped up and as I went with Fang to his house and when his bedroom door closed, we were in each other's arms. I still got a small shock at first that I was kissing Fang, but it quickly passed.

This kiss was different from the others too. The first three had been pecks, more emotional and caring, I guess that was the best way to put it. This kiss was full of static heat, shocking us both. We'd never kissed with tongue before, but when his tongue grazed my lip, I didn't hold back. Moore like couldn't, the need was so strong. I'd never french kissed anyone, but somehow I knew what to do. One arm was wrapped around Fang, the other in his hair. If Fang hadn't been holding me, I would have stumbled. He realized this and back up to the bed and lay down so I was on top. Our kiss hadn't been broken and when Fang's tongue entered my mouth, a soft sound escaped from my lips as my tongue met his. Our tongues danced and wrestled together, neither of us giving up the fight. Another whimper sounded from me, and I started to pull back a little, embarrassed. But Fang held me closer, not letting me go as his hand rubbed my arm gently, telling me it was okay. After a few more hot and heavy moments, we broke apart.

Our breaths were a little labored as I grinned at Fang, _This changes everything, doesn't it?_

_Definitely._

_That was kinda amazing._

_I know it was._

He pulled me into his arms and kissed my head.

Later that day I was back home, getting ready to take a shower. I wondered what the people who read my heart monitor would think. I mean I'm sure my heart beat spiked each time I kissed Fang. I was giving a journal that I was supposed to say when I took off the monitor and when I went to sleep and woke up. Should I also write in there "made out with hot neighbor boy from 11:14 AM to 11:29 AM?" Hmm. I watched in the mirror as I carefully took off the stickers. They left red marks all over my chest. I smirked, it looked like I had a bunch of hickeys. Well, my name _is_ Maximum Ride.

I had left Fang's around one when my mom called me to come help with the kids. Now it was pushing 9:40 and darkness slipped through the closed blinds on my bathroom window. I turned and was about to walk to the shower when my bathroom door banged open.

"Max? Are you in-" Fang's jaw actually dropped opened and his eyes even widened as he took in my naked body.

One hand and arm slapped over my chest and one hand covered my crouch as I shouted, "Get out!"

The door quickly slammed shut.

Okay, I have known Fang all my life, the last time we had seen each other completely naked was when we were probably nine and our bodies have definitely changed since then. Also, since Fang and I have become more than friends, him seeing me naked had a different effect and meaning. I mean, if we'd never kissed before, I'd still be pissed and annoyed but I knew he'd probably see my body and see it as he would a sister's. But now... I swallowed, how good of a look did he get? My chest was covered in quarter sized red dots! And the last time I had _shaved _in a certain area had been about four days ago! This was definitely not how I wanted Fang to see me naked for the first time.

"Sorry," Fang called.

If the situation would have been different, I would have laughed at his nerdy-ness.

I sighed, why hadn't I locked the door? "How much did you see?" My voice was lowered, so no one else would hear. I meant for it to come out as a growl, but it held a nervousness under tone, like he was judging my body or something. I was sure I'd rank a two right now. And once _that_ thought was in my head, no way was it leaving. Fuck.

"... Some..."

"Meaning?" My voice was quieter.

"All of it."

"Great!" I snapped. I had no one idea why I was so mad all of a sudden, why I thought Fang was a major ass and had done this on purpose somehow. But he didn't; it had been an accident. But still. He had walked in on me. I quickly locked the door and turned on the shower before Fang could say anything else.

I only got to shower for seven minutes because the situation with Fang took about three minutes, and getting pretty much dry- or at least enough for the stickers to stick- took about five minutes. Once the monitor was back on, I wrapped in my towel and opened the door to my room to get dressed. But Fang lay on my bed staring at the ceiling. I slammed the door shut.

"God! Give a girl a warning!" I should have known he'd stay. Stupid selective telepathic communication with Fang.

"I just want to talk."

"Let me get dressed first."

"No, you'll lock me out."

Damn telepathic communication thing. "Then get me some clothes. No, wait scratch that." No way I wanted him touching my underwear right now. "Talk."

"...I'm sorry. I didn't plan to walk in on you or something. I didn't get a good look or anything. I'm sorry."

I sighed, "It's okay."

"You're pissed."

"Can I just get dressed now?"

"Not 'til you forgive me."

Man, I wished this bathroom had another door. "I do forgive. What do you want me to do?"

"If I leave so you can get dressed, will you let me back in?"

"Yes."

"Fine."

I heard the door closed and left the bathroom. I quickly got dressed then let Fang back.

"I really am sorry," I couldn't resist a smile. He had a kicked puppy-dog look on his face. It wasn't very noticeable, but it was there.

"It's fine."

**Fang's POV**

At least I knew she was really a blonde.

**Max's POV**

The following Sunday, my dad took the monitor back to the doctor's. Our next appointment was sent for Tuesday around lunch. The first few days of Summer had been fun. We went to a crowded water park on a warm and sunny day. We spent three hours there and only went on two rides. So, we came home and decided to play in the hose instead. Things between Fang and I weren't weird like I thought they may be, we just starting digging deeper into the small groove of our relationship. The DayCare kids still came during the Summer and I spent a good chunk of my day helping Mom take care of them.

That day, Fang, Iggy, Ella, the kids, and I were watching one of the Scooby Doo movies. Attack of Zombie Island or something like that.

"Hey, that zombie looks like Iggy." I smirked.

"Well, your the boat driver."

"At least I own something."

"At least I'm not evil."

"You guys," Cassy said pointing as us, then to Trey and Asher, "are worser than them."

"Sorry." We shut up.

After a few minutes I walked into the kitchen to get some more popcorn when I heard-

"The doctor wasn't sure." My dad.

"Well, what did he think." Mom.

"He said we'd find out for sure when the monitor results came in. But he's pretty sure."

"No," my mom whispered.

"He says she might be at risk for a cardiac event at any moment."

**This is almost 4,000 words! Let me know about any thoughts/ideas. Also, I was planning to bring 'Then' chapters back after two more 'Now' chapters. Should I hold off longer? And thanks for any reviews! They greatly appreciated. **


	15. Chapter 15 Now

**MaxAndFangForEverAndEver- I didn't really understand your question, could you rephrase it please? And thanks for the inpute!**

**Jojodrummer11- My dog's fine now :) not phased at all by it either. Thank you!**

**Esperanza12- Thank you.**

**BirdKidKidby- Muchas gracias.**

**TwiPotterHungerRidePercyLiars-Thanks. Most people are leaning towards Now chapters too.**

**Bloody'Candy'Addict- Your review made me laugh. I'm sorry, did you mean the chapter was fun or the heart thing is fun? ;) **

**Now**

On Tuesday my mom, dad, and I sat in the waiting room. The clock on the wall ticked, and I swallowed. The last time I had sat here and been this nervous, I had been a little girl. But right now, roughly six years later I handle the fear the same way. I didn't complain, or cry, or evening act upset. I just sat and waited.

On Sunday when I had overheard my parents, I had stepped into the kitchen and demanded "_What?"_

Both parents clammed up immediately.

"There just 'what if-s' Sweetie," Dad finally managed.

"No, I heard what you said. Don't try to _hide_ my medical issues from me. I think I pretty much proved I can handle it by not sitting in my room pouting like most kids who have FA do. _What_ did he say?"

They didn't answer.

That was when the weight dropped, "It's bad… isn't it?"

Again, nothing.

And that said it all. I turned back on my heel (or at least what I could manage) and went back to the living room. I sat on the couch, still empty popcorn bowl resting in my lap.

I pretty much hid what was going on from the others until Monday afternoon. I bet you think it was Fang who came to my rescue, huh?

Gazzy came into my room, "Hey, Max."

"What's up?" I lowered the book I was reading.

"Listen... I heard Mom and Dad talking in their room."

"'Bout what?"

"Your heart... they said it didn't look so good."

I gave him a sad smile, "I guess they have trouble keeping their mouths closed, cause I overheard them in the kitchen," I nodded, "I asked if it was bad, and they didn't answer."

He kicked the carpet with his toe, "Max... do you think this is it?"

I hadn't wanted to admit it, but it was very possible that it could be. If it kept growing… "Oh, Gazzy," the fourteen year old stepped closer, blinking hard, and I pulled him into my arms. "No, I don't. No matter what they say, I'm not going to let it stop me. I'll take ten horse pills a day and give up fast food, if I have to. What, am I going to let a fat ventricle kill me?" Technically, it was enlarged not fat, but still, "I'll always be here for you."

He gave me a small smile, "How can you be so sure?"

"I'm the amazing Maximum Ride, I know everything."

He stood up and smiled, "Thanks, Max."

Nudge came over later and Angel, Nudge, and I spent the rest of the day playing "The Game of Life". It wasn't 'til later that I realized I could have been baiting fait.

Now, the nurse came and got us, weighed and measured me, put us in a room and gave me a gown, and then I kicked my dad out and changed. A minute later my mom let him back in.

A few minutes later, I realized who strange it felt not to be playing "I Spy" with Fang. Fang had obviously not come with us this time. I wouldn't admit that I didn't want him to come, but he picked up on it. I hope he knew the meaning too. Okay, I'm not one to feel sorry for myself, but the reason I didn't want Fang to come was because I felt like I couldn't do anything right. I had so many medical problems, and now I was going to have one more. In a way, I guess it embarrassed me. But embarrassed wasn't the right word.

Someone people might have expected me to beg Fang to come with me to this appointment. He was my support team. But I didn't want him to be my rock, my crutch. I didn't want to lean on him and I didn't need to. He didn't need to carry me, I could walk (notice the double meaning).

Dr. Havensen walked in, "Well, hello Sweetheart," he said (my other doctor, back in Montana had had an Australian accent. This guy didn't). He looked down at his clip board, "How have you been feeling?"

"Fine, I guess."

"Any dizziness? Shortness of breath?"

"No, not really," I glanced at my parents like they held all the answers.

His eyes were sad even as he said, "That's good. That's very good." he licked his lips and drew in a deep breath, "Max, with ultrasound test and halter monitor, we've come to the conclusion that you indeed, do have Dilated cardiomyopathy."

I know most doctors would kick the patient out of the room, tell the parents, then tell the kid, but this guy has been in a good chunk of my life, we've seen each grow older. He didn't need to kick me out to know what had happened. Mind as well break the heart (haha) once.  
>"What's that?" I asked, even though I knew.<p>

"Dilated cardiomyopathy is the enlargement of the muscle tissue that makes up the wall of your heart's main pumping chamber.

"It develops in response to some factor, such as high blood pressure, that requires the ventricles to work harder. In your case, it's your Friedreich's Ataxia. As the workload increases, the walls of the chamber grow thicker, lose elasticity and eventually fail to pump with as much force as a healthy heart. It's also possible that it could lead to heart and other organ failure. Max could go into cardiac arrest at any minute."

"What can we do?" Mom asked.

"Well, first the obvious**: **a low sodium and low fat diet. Not very greasy foods. Raw fruits and vegetables. But pills, I'm not so sure. Most could have the opposite effect. Or they could not work at all."

"So, we just wait!" My dad demanded as Mom said, "What about Idebenone?" She pronounced it, I-deb-a-non.

He clipped his pen, "Idebenone," he paused in thought, "Idebenone is very easy for the system to process and handle. It won't affect anything but the heart. On the down side, it may not work at all."

"But what if it does?" she asked excitedly.

"Then Max will be one lucky girl. She'll just have to re-climb the hill."  
>"Wait, what?" I mimicked my dad's tone.<p>

"Idebenone is an anti oxidant that has not been legalized in America, though has deemed its self worthy of bringing the left ventricle back into the 'normal' range. You have to order it out of the country and have it shipped. The likelihood of it working at this point is slim, but still possible."

"Why haven't we heard about it before?" Dad; still pissed.

"The medication is almost unheard of, but I'm surprised you haven't heard about it in the Friedreich's Ataxia community."

"That's how I did find it," Mom admitted, gently brushing Dad's arm.

"Then why didn't you recommend it before?"

"Because Max has never needed it before. Her heart ventricle grew too quickly for us to see any warning signs when she visited beforehand. But now, I think it's our best hope."

We left the doctor a half hour later, one pamphlet and two menus with healthy recipes richer. I was prescribed to start taking seven Idebenone pills a day, all containing 150 MG. Our next appointment was in a month.

I really had no idea how to feel about this. I mean, I pretty much knew I was screwed when I overheard my parents. My feelings were confirmed when Gazzy came to talk to me in my room. It was just one more medical problem, right? Y'know now how people make notches on their bed posts with people they slept with? Well, I could do that with all my medicinal cans of worms.

"So, Max," Mom said. They had asked if I was okay, but after that it seemed like a pretty normal day. "You know camps, in three weeks…"

"Mmh," I mumbled reading over the menus. This stuff looked pretty gross.

"Well, with what we learned today I think it'd be best if you missed camp just this year."

"What!" My head snapped up, "What! No way! I graduate from camp next year!"

"I know; that's why you'd go next year but miss this year-"  
>"Valencia, we haven't even talked about this," My dad said from the driver seat.<p>

"There's nothing to talk about!" We pulled into the driveway.

I was more pissed about being told I couldn't go to camp than I was about my heart. I stormed into the house, ignoring Gazzy, Angel, Iggy, Fang, Nudge, and Eden who were all in the living room. Jimmy flew to Seattle yesterday. I stomped to my room, locked the door, locked the bathroom door, turned on the shower, then buried my face in a towel and screamed. I yelled 'til my voice was gone and my jaw hurt.

Finally I stood up and walked out of the bathroom. I grabbed a notebook and a pencil then sat on my bed. I tilted the page, _**Why I should go to camp.**_

_**1. I only have two years at camp left.**_

_**2. Camp is full of doctors and nurses and there's a walky talky in every cabin, so if anything did happen, I'd have help right away and you guys would know within minutes.**_

_**3. I've been to camp before; we both know how safe and equipped it is.**_

_**4. The food is healthy and I would take all of my pills (even though I already do).**_

_**5. **_(My triumphant card) _**I may not be here to go to camp next year.**_

I thought for a second, and then rephrased it, _**I may not be able to go to camp next year. **_

They'd pick up on the hint.

I left my room and found my parents and Eden in the kitchen. With narrowed eyes, I said in a hoarse voice, "Here," and gave them the paper then I went to the living room. The others were there, and I didn't know what to expect.

"Max!" Nudge said, "Is your heart okay?"

"The parents haven't told you?" I cleared my throat.

She shook her head and the others watched me.

"Uh, well, it's just having some complications." I quickly added, "I'll be fine though." I met Gazzy's eyes.

"Really?" he asked.

"Really. I have to take some pills though, and you better prepare to kiss chips and cookies goodbye," I frowned. Not the cookies!

"Does it hurt?" Angel asked, worry swam in her eyes.

"No, not at all." I pecked her head.

"It's going to be fine, right?" Iggy asked.

"Right." I hope.

"What did the doctor say?" Iggy wondered.

"He said I have Dilated cardiomyopathy," I smiled, "just another one of those big named words that no one has heard of."

"What's that?" Asked Angel.

"Basically, what we already knew could happen. Enlargement of the left ventricle."

"That actually sounds kind of cool," Nudge smiled.

"Right?"I pushed some hair away from her eyes.

It went on like that for a few more minutes before a storm picked up and the lights went out. Fang hadn't said anything throughout this all, and I couldn't help but wonder if he was mad at me.

As the others started scrounging around for candles and flashlights, I sat were I was. I couldn't see in this darkness, so I couldn't exactly walk. It wasn't pitch black, but it was dark enough for Gazzy to not see a chair and trip over it. That earned a good laugh.

Fang sat next to me on the couch. He said, "Hey."

"Hey."

"So… what happened?"

"I told you-"

"You told the safe and happy version. What's the truth?"

"I think they're in the garage!" My dad called.

"I don't see 'em," Iggy called back.

"Don't talk so loud," I whispered to Fang.

"What did he say?" Fang talked lower.

"Basically, my hearts on the fritz and could malfunction at any time," I smiled at my joke.

He was quiet. "You could have a heart attack?" His voice was even more hushed.

"Don't say it like that. You'll make me sound old."

"Could you?"

I nodded.

Some people would say sorry, some might try to sympathize, but really what could you say? Fang knew if he tried to say anything like that we'd have to go to the ER. He'd be in front, and I'd be hopping behind him with my foot stuck up his butt.

"Well, this sucks," he whispered looking down.

I touched his hand, "Hey, everyone has a time. Besides, you make it sound like I'm about to drop dead."

"Are you?" His response was fast and made both of us pause.

"No." I decided at that moment, that I wasn't. I was going to get my heart healthy and live a long life. I'd be fine.

He leaned forward and brushed his lips against mine. I was surprised he'd gone and kissed me so publicly.

"We'll fight this. Just like everything else."

I smiled again, I felt stupid now for feeling not wanting Fang to come along when he knew how to make everything better.

Later that day the power came on and the others went back home. That's when my parents told me I wasn't going to camp. Mad as hell, I stormed to Fang's house, walking through the rain. Jimmy was home now, he worked on huge building's electric systems and plumbing and stuff. He was constantly traveling out of town. You'd think this would be the perfect set up for him to cheat, right? But if you saw him and Eden together you'd know how deeply in love they were. I doubt cheating ever crossed their minds.

"Hey, Jimmy," I mumbled heading to Fang's room. "Welcome home."

"Thanks, good to be home. That heart of your's starting to melt?"

"Huh?" I turned around, confused. He was smirking. Why would he be smirking? That's when I realized he was up to something.

"Eden just told me about your heart… then she told me about some PDA going on in the living room. Must be Fang's curse, huh?"

My jaw dropped open, "I… What?"

The smirk grew, "Well, I gotta go unpack." He entered his room.

I walked into Fang's room, feeling confused. Then, suddenly desperate to make out. But first I had to talk to Fang.

"Did you know?" I sat next to him on his bed. He paused his video game.

"That you have a perverted name? Yes."  
>I smiled, I had asked the same thing when I found out about my name, "That your mom saw us kissing?"<p>

"She did?"

"Yes!" I told him what his dad had said.

He laughed, "That's awesome. Uh, yeah, my super power makes girl's hearts grow…" he laughed.

"You're annoying."

"Do you think they'll start making us keep the door open?"

"If they do, we should use this time wisely," I leaned forward, but Fang said, "Wait."  
>"What?"<br>"Well, if with your heart and all, can you still do this stuff?"

"What do you mean?"

"Your heart will start beating faster… will that be bad?"

"Fuck. I don't know."

"You didn't ask the doctor?"  
>"My parents were right there! So, I can't kiss you again until my heart's better?"<p>

"Not making out… but pecks maybe."

I sighed, "Google?"

We went to the den. I closed the door.

"Would kissing count as sexual activity?"

"You make it sound so dirty…" I frowned.

In the browser he typed, "Will kissing be dangerous if you have Ventricular Hypertrophy?"

He scrolled down. The most promising one we found was "safe sexual activity and cardiovascular disease', which caused me to blush insanely, "You better delete the history."

"Hey, these old people got it on with no issue."

"You're disgusting."

We looked at a few more sites and came to the conclusion that it was patient based, not the general population who had it. So we decided pecks were okay, but nothing else 'til my next appointment.

I told Fang I couldn't go to camp this year and he agreed with my parents, plus he said he wanted to spend time with me, which as sweet as it was, it made me storm out pissed. I couldn't go to the tree house or home, so I just drove around.

When I got back, it was roughly six o'clock and I got ground for not telling anyone where I was despite me pointing out you shouldn't talk on the phone and drive. Great.


	16. Chapter 16 Now

**Hey guys, I'm thinking about changing the summary and maybe title, too. Do you have any ideas? Thanks for your help!**

**Now**

On Tuesday, a week later, my grounding ended and Fang, Ella, Iggy, Zack, Brooke, and I went to the mall. Our parents decided on our way to Florida, we needed to stop by Utah and Arizona to visit my Great Aunt (on Dad's side) and my aunt and cousins (Mom's side) then Jimmy said we should stop in Texas to see Eden's mom and Arkansas to see his younger brother. So, after much discussion we decided to make it 32 day vacation by RV. I didn't really know how to feel about that. Our original idea was to fly, spend a week, and fly home. I knew being in that tight of a space with so many people was going to cause a ton of fights and be a ton of pain. Major headache alert. We were going to spend more time traveling than in Florida. It'd be fun, but get very old _very _fast. I could already hear the arguments. We left on Thursday. But for now, I was enjoying my freedom.

I had also started taking Idebenone yesterday. They weren't that bad- orange-ish yellow powder in a clear capsule. I took so many, it was hard to stay on top of them. I couldn't take all seven at once. Two in the morning, two at lunch, three at night.

We were sitting in the food court, not able to resist a grin at the old couple glaring at us, "Loitering teenagers."

"She was being such a bitch," Brooke complained.

"You two should just kiss and make up," Iggy made kissy noises.

"Iggy you may think about the same gender, but that doesn't mean all of us do."

Iggy glared, flipping her the bird.

"Oh trust me," Fang murmured, "Iggy has no issue about his gay sexuality, just look at his computer history."

Iggy's jaw dropped, "You will not find one homo video! Unless you count girls," he wagged his eyebrows.

"So, you're admitting you watch porn?" Fang smirked.

Iggy paused, realizing his slip, "Not cool, man. Besides, I'm sure your account is just swimming with secret porn files."

"Didn't think he'd need the internet when he has Max." Ella giggled.

"Ella!" I exclaimed.

"What now?" Brooke, Zack, even Iggy (shockingly he didn't know) glanced at me.

"Nothing."

There was an awkward pause as they glanced around. But Iggy, thank God, came to my rescue. Realizing my discomfort, he piped, "Know what's better than porn? Strip clubs."

"You've never even been to a strip club," Ella rolled her eyes.

"What's a strip club?" Zack glanced around, eyes as innocent as a kid's.

"Dude," Iggy shook his head.

**Fang's POV**

Really? Was this kid really that oblivious? Didn't he have a computer?

"A strip club," Brooke said, "Is a place where girls dance on poles and strip off their already skanky clothes for money."

"Harsh," Iggy mumbled.

"It's the truth!"  
>"You <em>really <em>didn't know what a strip club is?" Max asked, still surprised.

"Yeah, I thought all guys had their heads in the gutter. Or at least knew what a strip club was." Brooke said with her eyebrows raised.

Zack casted his eyes admiringly towards Max. It was obvious he had a school yard crush on her, "_Not _all guys have stuff like that on their minds 24/7."

"I highly doubt that," Brooke smirked.

"Yeah this one time..." Ella began.

Max had always had a soft spot for the guy, so when she leaned close and whispered, "Yeah, and I doubt he knows what a clit is either." I was more than surprised. Let me just add that Max had never liked to say inmate body parts, and usually went with saying chest or crouch or groin. So her saying this made it that much funnier. I snorted a laugh as I cracked up.

Max giggled too, unable to resist the comedy of her joke.

The others looked at us as if we just admitted we were aliens from Mars.

**Max's POV**

On the way home, Brooke sat in shot gun as the other four squished into the back. The others were singing along to some song about being sexy and knowing it. That was when she suckered me into admitting something was going on with Fang. I really wasn't so sure why we were keeping everything so hush- hush.

Last Wednesday morning, I left my room to get breakfast. Heck, that was the only time I was allowed to leave my room! I passed the kiddies watching TV and went to the kitchen. Dad had gone to work already and the others were still asleep. Mom and Eden were talking at the table when I grabbed a bowl from the cupboard, trying to tip-toe so I could eavesdrop.

"Are you sure?" My mom asked, sounding wary.

"Positive. Beside we knew this would happen," Eden smiled, "The girl next do- Good morning Max!"

I turned my back and headed to my room with a bowl full of dry cereal. I mumbled, "Why do you guys have so many private conversations where everyone can hear you?"

Ignoring my comment Eden said, "Wait, Max." I turned around, "So you and Fang huh?" She waggled her eyebrows.

"Good God, you're as bad as your husband."

"So, there is something going on?" Mom asked it as a question.

I glanced behind to make sure no one else was listening. God, did we really have to discuss this? "Do you think so?" Annoyance laced my voice, both from the topic and being grounded.

"Well, unless Nick was trying to bite off your lips, I'd guess birds and bees are in the air," Eden smirked, calling Fang by his birth name.

I felt warmth stain my cheeks, "Well, it's nothing major," I defended, turning and walking back to my room.

"If you say so!" Mom called, laughing.

"This better not go on Facebook!" I called back, sticking my tongue out at them as I rounded the first corner of the hall towards my room. Cackling followed me the whole way.

We dropped Zack and Brooke at home. Ella came back with me to my house.

"You and Fang are going to be together for 32 days! Think anything will happen?" She asked when I closed the door.

I sighed, "Probably not. Stupid heart." I laid back on the bed. My head was by Ella's feet and my feet by her head. "I really wish you could go with us. Maybe for half the time and you could fly home?"

"God, I'd want to. But my parents say no." she sighed.

"What do they think will happen? We'll forget you at a pit stop?"  
>She laughed, "No, that's Gazzy."<p>

"Oh, yeah. I forgot about that. Parents are stupid."

She sighed, "Tell me about it."

The next day, I sat outside with Mom and the little kids. We were all playing with bubbles, and Cassy sat in my lap, trying to make a Mickey Mouse head out of three bubbles. DayCare was on hold until we got back. One of our older neighbors offered to take over until we got back. She was a sweet lady who liked to bake and sew- the ideal picture of a grandma.

Mom had tried talking to me again about Fang. Asking what was going on between us. I just told her we were taking things slow and going with the flow. But a question burned inside me, and I finally worked up the nerve to ask, "Do you think kissing will be bad for my heart?" My mom and I weren't exactly that close and we never had talked about things like this. She never even gave me the sex talk, I found out through books and the internet.

She gave me a knowing smile. Honestly, I thought she'd yell at me for kissing Fang or something, "Do I? No. Kissing- or anything else, though I wouldn't encourage anything more at this point- it won't effect anything. Your heart problem took a long time to form, and beating faster for awhile won't make any huge changes. Besides, you've started Ideb, it'll fix everything," Mom said, calling Idebenone the nickname we made up. She was also as stubborn as I was about Idebenone working and fixing my heart.

That happened last night and I haven't seen Fang yet, so I haven't been able to tell him.

And before I knew it, the whole house knew what was going on. It was still strange to say I had feelings for Fang- more than friends after all these years. I mean, how many times in my life had I said, "We're just friends"? But that had changed, and we've been holding hands and things like that. Which I will admit is a little tricky, it always throws me off balance.

"Lily! Don't put that in your mouth!"

Lily glanced at me, then giggled like a mad woman and put the bubble blower in her mouth. My mom shot up and took it. She squatted down and put the blower in some bubble solution, "Like this," she said and blew bubbles. "Don't put it in your mouth again."

She gave the blower to Lily again, who toddeled to the sprinkler, giggling. They were in swim suits to prevent sticky clothes, and since it was a warm day, we put a sprinkler head on the hose.

Trey laughed as bubbles popped on his chest. He was soaking in bubble soap, his whole body shiny with it.

"I don't think Trey will have to use bath soap for the next week." I said to Mom as Asher ran by, his arm out stretched and bubbles being blown by the wind trailed him.

My mom smiled, "He looks like a slimy slug."

My dad appeared in the doorway, phone pressed to his shoulder. "The RV is all set. We'll pick it up tonight at seven."

On almost all shows when the characters take an RV trip, something happens and they wind up with a shitty RV. Wouldn't that be the most cliché thing if it really did happen?

Right now, it was roughly three o'clock and the kiddies went home at five.

Angel and Nudge came sprinting from next door, and when they saw us and the bubbles, ran right over and chose two bubble wands from the bucket of toys.

"We're goin' to Florida," Nudge sang, "We're goin' to Florida!"  
>"What's the RV like?" Angel asked Mom.<p>

"It's big. It has a kitchen against one wall, and on the other wall it has a booth table and two pull out couches. There's a bed above the driver seat, and there's one bedroom with six bunk beds next to a bathroom."

"It sounds huge!"  
>"It sounds cramped," I smirked.<p>

"The whole trip will be a blast though. The time only we'll even have to be in the RV is when we drive. You guys can sleep outside in a tent if you want." Mom said.

"I'm gonna go inside and finish packing," I said, setting Cassy down and standing up.

"Don't forget sun glasses!" My mom called.

I walked into my room and looked around. Everything was pretty much packed. Clothes, toiletries, fun stuff, pillows and blankets.

I walked over to my bag and started counting clothes, making sure I packed shampoo, sunscreen, tampons-

I felt someone's lips press to my neck. I tuned around and smiled at Fang, "Hi."

He pulled me into a hug, "Are you excited for tomorrow?" he murmured.

I nodded against his chest, "I have a surprise."

"Hmm?"

I stood up on my tip toes and pressed my lips to his. He kissed back for a second before pulling back.

"Guess what?" I smiled shyly.

"What?"  
>"My mom said it wouldn't hurt my heart to kiss."<p>

He raised and eyebrow, "You asked your mom that?"

I glared, "It just came up. What? You're not going to kiss me now?"

A smile played on his lips as he leaned down and instantly molded his lips to mine, I sighed and forced my tongue between his lips when I heard an "Ooooh!"  
>We didn't jump apart, just broke apart, still in each others' arms. Fang sighed and I rolled my eyes, then glared at Angel and Nudge who quickly scampered to Angel's room.<p>

"God," I sighed, our moment lost. I pecked his lips, "Next time?"

He nodded. I went back to my suit case, double checking, as Fang watched over my shoulder and when he saw my tampon box, snickered.

I turn around, smirking, "Are you really that immature?"

"Yep."

"Fine! I'll go to your house and laugh at what you pack."

"I have nothing you could make fun of."

"A jockey strap?"

"Oh."

"Yeah, that's what I thought."

The next morning, we woke up at four AM. It was rainy and cold outside as we loaded the RV. The side walk was wet and slick and let me just say, there's nothing like skinned knees and the taste of wet cement in the morning! At five, we had finished packing, turned off light, ate breakfast, and locked the house. At 5:10 AM, we hit the road!


	17. Chapter 17 Now

**Hey guys! I'll be making some changes with the story. **

**1st I'm going to change the title to Ataxia Ride (there's a foundation called Ride Ataxia. It's where people with FA ride their bikes (usually recumbent, AKA 3 wheelers) for miles, across states and countries, too, it's their only source of transportation on their journey, and it raises a ton of money for FARA- Friedreich's Ataxia Research Alliance). Any thoughts or opinions about the title change would be greatly appreciated.  
>2nd The story will roughly have 15 to 20 chapters left. <strong>

**3rd I'm debating about changing the rating to 'T'. Do you think I should?**

**4th The summary isn't that captivating, and I think it's gonna get changed. Do you have any ideas what the new summary should say?**

**Thanks for all your help!**

**Now**

Everyone was pretty much giddy and hyper from lack of sleep as we started the first leg of our trip. We turned onto the freeway, not even ten minutes in. Dad and Jimmy were up front driving and Mom, Iggy, Angel, and Eden were sitting at the table, looking out the window, trying to glimpse the sun as it raised its sleep head. Nudge and I were stretched out on a couch, talking to Gazzy and Fang who sat on the floor and leaned against the cupboards.

My adrenaline high was started to ware off and I tried to resist the call of sleep. I failed miserably.

I woke up a few hours later; Nudge was passed out an using my thigh as a pillow. I glanced around, Iggy was asleep on the other couch, snoring and drooling, but the others were up and about. I slowly crawled out from under Nudge, and stumbled to the table. I slid in next to Fang in the booth and he pulled my hand into his under the table.

"So tonight will be stopping Idaho." Dad finished.  
>"Such an exciting state," Gazzy mumbled sarcastically and smirked.<p>

"It's a very pretty and laid back state." Eden said.

"Isn't one of the-" I started but Eden kept right on talking.

"Our first rest stop will be in about an hour."

"Why are we talking a rest stop?" I asked.

"Just to get some fresh air, strech our legs."

"Can we be all tour-isty and go to lame tour sites? Like the Grand Canyon?" Angel asked.

"No, that's stupid. Why would we do that? We should go to amusement parks and stuff. Like, my friends were telling me about this totally dangerous theme park in Arizona-" Gazzy started.

"We'll try to squeeze in a few sites," Dad offered.

"We should play a game," Angel said suddenly.  
>"Why?" I wondered.<p>

"Because it'd be fun!"

"Did you bring games?" Fang asked.

Angel crawled out from under the table and opened a cupboard, "Yes! We can play, "Monopoly" or "Clue" or "Life" or cards?"

"How about "Clue?" Eden offered.

"Do you think we'll have time?" Dad asked.

"We can always stop mid game."

"As long as you don't cheat," I glared at Gazzy.

Angel crawled back under the table then into her seat.

"You're like a monkey," Gazzy smirked.

We started to set up the pieces and Fang declared he was going to be the "orange guy". At the realization that there was no orange guy, he settled for the "purple nerd".

The team rivalry began, with many insults and tricky moves, our ID cards were mostly filled out. I knew the murderer was Miss White with either the revolver or knife and in the kitchen or library.

"The butler, in the hall, with the revolver?" Fang asked Dad.

Dad shuffled through his few cards, slid a card face down to Fang, who peeked at it and slid it back.

"What was it?" I whispered when no one was looking.

"Why would I tell you?"

"Because everything has its price?"

I glared at the Gasman, who said it, not me. "That better not be referencing to anything gross."

"Who said it was?"  
>I rolled my eyes as Eden rolled the dice. She began to move her blue piece away from the kitchen, getting closer to the stairs.<p>

Next turn was mine. I asked Angel if it was Miss White with the knife in the kitchen. I was finally able to cross off knife.

Eden went a few turns later and rolled a three. She kept moving towards the stairs.

I decided to take a chance, and when my turn came along I started moving towards the stairs. Soon, Eden and I were racing against each other, neck and neck, and we finally reached the stairs after many turns. I had three steps left to climb and Eden had five. That was when Fang showed up, coming out of the hall and rolled a six! It was down to us three. My turn was next, then Eden's then Fang's. So this was probably my only chance to kick everyone's butts. I could do it. I just needed a four! I picked up the dice, thinking, Number four! Come on, number four! I rolled the dice, it rolled twice before deciding it felt like being a number three. When Eden's turn came, she rolled a two. I couldn't resist an evil giggle.

Then it was down to Fang. No way would he win. It was impossible. He wasn't going to win - he rolled the dice, it bounced, rolled three times, then went with a number six. Fuck.

My eyes narrowed as he said, "Miss White, with the revolver, in the library." He opened the clue file, and you know what that sonofabitch was? He was right.

He smirked then stuck his tongue out at us "Losers."

"You guys suck! I mean, you and Mom were so close. But then you lost! All of you!" He started to laugh madly, weirding me out extremely, when Iggy -who woke up and was watching us, sitting on the couch arm behind Fang- reached forward and slapped a Host Cupcake into Fang's mouth.

"Thank God! You are a huge freak, man."

I smirked at Fang, whose eyes narrowed, his cheeks and mouth covered with chocolate, and began to laugh loudly, "You- you look like- like that guy from Willy Wonka! Augustus!"

After our laughter died down, my mom pulled over. It was a view point, where you could look at the forest. Fang helped me down the steps and I dragged in cold breaths of air, glad to have some breathing room. We were about six hours into the trip. Jimmy said we were at little behind schedule because of the weather. It had been raining off and on all day. No one else was parked in the tiny parking lot, and I great fully accepted the walking room.

I let go of Fang's arm as we walked away from the others.

"You looked so funny. Augustus is going to be your new nick-name."

"Hey! Don't even get me started about nick-names, I could write a book full of nick names about your name."

"Liar," I accused, stumbling forward into his arms, the Earth giving me a little shove. Hey, maybe she liked us dating.

"I am not." He leaned down and our lips touched. It wasn't a make out session- we were right by the others!- but still lit a spark. I pulled back. "I didn't know Augustus was such a good kisser."

Fang rolled his eyes, following me, "You asked you asked for it, Climax."

"_What?"_

"Climax. You can't spell it without Max." He stuck his tongue out at me.

My jaw dropped, "I hoping your talking about the climax in a book."

Fang just smirked.

"Guys! Guys!"Angel called, running towards us with Nudge following. Angel's pink wind breaker bulging outward.

"What is that, Angel?"

When she reached us, she opened her wind breaker, "Look what I found!" She held a scraggily looking black Scottish dog. "His name is Total! I'm going to keep him and he's gonna come live with us! He doesn't have a collar, and he's way out here in the middle of no where so I figured he's lost."

Fang kneeled down and held the dog. He made a face when the dog licked him.

"Mom said you could keep him?" I asked.

"She doesn't know about him, that's why we need you guys to help us hide him.

Fang and I met each others eyes. This could be a major pain in the ass. We could get in trouble. We could get yelled at. We couldn't leave him.

"Why not?" I finally said.

We were the first ones back in the RV. Nudge grabbed two pieces of bread to feed him and Angel grabbed a bowl of water. Fang set him on top of the table and he began to scarf the food.

"Poor little guy," I said, "next time we go to a store, we'll get dog food, and Aunt Janet is a vet so when we get to Arizona, she'll check him out. Maybe she can shave off some of that fur."

"He's really friendly," Nudge said when he finished his food and licked her arm.

"Angel do we have any lunch meat?"

"Turkey," she said, looking in the fridge.

"Can you feed him two pieces? We should check for ticks too."

"He needs a collar," Nudge said.

"He needs a brush," Angel said.

"He needs a bath," Fang smirked.

"Hopefully there'll be a store by the RV stop and we can get him what he needs."

"Whoa!" We all quickly glanced up and Fang moved so the others at the door couldn't see Total. "You guys found a dog?" Gazzy demanded.

"Shh!"

"What's his name?" Iggy asked.  
>"His name's Total and he's gonna be our dog but we have to hide him from the parents."Nudge said. At the mention of parents, we glanced out the window. They were headed towards the RV.<p>

We all quickly squished into the booth, Total in the middle and sitting in Nudge's lap.

"Someone always has to be with him," I whispered, "We'll sleep in the tent tonight. Try to make him go potty on papers in the shower. We go to a store next time we stop. We should feed him again in like half an hour." I finished as the adults walked into the RV.

"Hey guys," Mom said smiling at us, "Want some lunch?"

Five hours later we pulled into a dusty RV lot. We had made it to Idaho!

We had feed Total almost half a tub of turkey meat and he drank about four bowels of water. I guess Total must have had a previous owner -despite looking like a ragamuffin- because he knew a few commands. It was about 4:23 and Fang, Iggy, and I went to get Total his supplies -thank God there was a store right across the street- while the other three walked him in the woods. Between the six of us we scraped up about $50.

We walked in the grocery store and went to the pet aisle. We got three small bags of dog food (easier to hide), a green collar, a leash, a big bone, some shampoo, and a brush. It would cost about $42.21. On our way to check out, Iggy stopped and grabbed something.

"What are you doing?" Fang asked.

Iggy held up the box.

I smirked, "No way."

"We can cut it out and put it on his collar! It'll be his name tag!"

So with our doggy supplies and our box of Total cereal, we checked out and went back to the RV.

"Guys," Iggy said once we were outside the RV, "how the fuck are we supposed to get this stuff inside?"

"Uh... we'll dump stuff out of a suit case, and then we'll bring it out here and then we'll put Total's stuff in it."

"Good idea," I said to Fang.

Fang came back outside a minute later. We loaded our grocery bags in the suit case and went back inside. The parents weren't paying attention to us anyway, and we made it back to our room unnoticed. We grabbed the collar, leash, and box of Total. I cut the leash and collar free then cut out the Total logo. Don't ask me how Iggy managed to get our make shift name tag on the collar ring, but he did. We decided we'd brush him in the tent and give him a bath tomorrow. We had fed him a little while ago, so he'd be fine for now. We sneaked by the 'rents with the leash and collar. We found the others about ten feet into the woods.

The others bursted out laughing when they saw his collar.

"It was the best we could do on such short notice." I smirked.

After Total was hooked up, I asked, "So what's our plan?"

"We hide him 'til tomorrow night. Then we say he was a stole-away?" Angel offered.

"I don't think that'll fly."

"We tell them tomorrow. We'll say we found him in Oregon, so there's no way they'd try to get rid of him. I mean, they'll take him home to Oregon to try to find his owner, but by then, they like him so much, there's no way they will get rid of him." Nudge smiled.

"That idea I like," I said.

"And there's no way they'll turn around," Gazzy scratched Total's ears.

"Sounds like a plan." Fang agreed.

That night, after Total was brushed, fed, and went potty, all seven of us climbed in the tent. Shockingly, it wasn't that cold. A little chill, but live-able. Total climbed in Angel's sleeping bag because he got cold, but I was thankful he was out of sight. After making sure the tent was zipped tight, I crawled back in my sleeping bag and scooched closer to Fang- who happened to be sleeping next to me.

The next day, we managed to sneak Total back in. We left the RV sit at about eight AM and were planning to get to Great Aunt Mim's around 2:30. We planned to tell them about Total around one. We'll say he was hurt and we weren't sure if they'd let us help him. I have to say though, he looks a hundred times better than he did yesterday. Angel said she was going to take a "shower" and she and Nudge had given him a bath before we left.

It was about lunch time and the six of us fidgeted around the table playing a board game. Half an hour 'til D Day (well, D Time actually. We called it D Day because dog starts with 'D'). Total sat in my lap under the table, sleeping.

We were playing "Life" today. So far, I went to college, work as doctor, got married (which of course caused jokes that it was Fang), and had two twin boys (which caused more laughs). Fang had twins too, except his were thankfully girls. Iggy was a rich artist. Gazzy was a poor clerk. Angel had so many kids, they all couldn't fit in her car. Nudge was a entertainer with a college degree and one kid.

Twenty minutes passed and we were steadily making our way to the retirement home.

"Does anyone really win this game?" I asked.

"I think the person whose the richest wins." Fang said.

"How immoral."

"I think Iggy's winning." Nudge glared.

"You know it!" Iggy's voice held pride.

"Too bad it's not real life," Fang smirked.

I lowered my voice, "Ready guy?" They nodded, "Just like we practiced."

"Hey, Mom?" Angel asked.

"Yeah, Hun?"

"You know how you told me to always help others?" she said sweetly.

"Uh-huh," she wasn't really paying attention, that's when Nudge stepped in.

"Well we did!" Nudge said enthusiastically. Mom and Eden glanced at us. "On our first stop?" Sympathetic now, "We found a really hurt animal."

"So... we helped it," Iggy summed up.

"Uh-huh," Eden watched us carefully.

"He was all alone so we helped him," I said encouragingly.

"And we'll look for his owners back in Oregon when we get home." Fang said reasonably.

"Oh shit," I heard Dad swear.

"His name's Total and he's a really good dog!" Gazzy beamed, finishing. I took him from my lap and set him on the table. We all beamed.

There was a pause, as our parents took this in. Then Eden turned to my mom, "What I want to know," Eden said, "is how they hid a dog from us for this long."


	18. Chapter 18 Now

**Empty Thoughts- Thank you!****  
><strong>BirdKidKirby-Thank you, too. I'm going to change it.<strong>**

**Now**

So, turns out Aunt Mim's house isn't that exciting. She lives way out in the boondocks with her three cats and pet goat. Her house is huge! It's two stories tall and white, it has a wrap around porch and the roof is supported by multiple pillars. It's gigantic and the whole housed smelled like old lady perfume. All her dishes were made out of expensive China, and I'm afraid to even touch them for fret that they might break.

Aunt Mim wasn't thrilled to meet Total either. She said he wasn't allowed inside the house, and when he was outside, he had to be on a leash.

On the bright side though, she was getting senile in her old age. It was kind of funny to listen to her. She was always forgetting stuff, and on the second full day we were there, she lost her glasses, her measuring cup, repeatedly forgot Gazzy's name, and feed her cats at least four times. Now I know why her cats are named Big Boy, Buddha, and TooLow.

On the same night, we went outback and made a campfire. We were roasting marshmallows and hot dogs.

"Now, I don't know what you youngin's do when you set around a campfire, but back in the day, we used to tell spook stories." Aunt Mim said, as we all started eating our food.

"Aunt Mim, remember how young someone of the kids are," Mom warned.

"Hey!" Angel exclaimed.

"Horse pucky," Aunt Mim said, sounding annoyed, "You guys have been here a few days now and seen the house. This house is quite old, almost eighty years. It had two owners before I bought it. The very previous owner had a daughter. It was back in '41 and people wasn't as open minded as they are today. They believed a crazy person belonged locked up, in a crazy house.

"But this man, he loved his daughter. There ain't no way he'd send her away, no matter how crazy she was. You guys know that spot upstairs? In that long hallway to the bathroom? Where there's that little door and I said it lead to a storage room? Well, it ain't always used that way. The man, he did lock her up when they had company. No one even knew they had a daughter. They'd lock her up at night too and when she threw temper tantrums. They'd leave her there until she cried herself dry. One day they locked her up when she started crying. She screamed and yelled for hours. They just ignored her, glad they had no close neighbors," she gave a mean chuckle.

"When she finally stop, her daddy went up and checked on her. She was dead. She got so hysterical it killed the poor girl. The family buried her here in the woods, once she was pronounced dead. Now, I lived here a long, long time. So when I say, sometimes at night you can hear the sobs of a young lady, or sometimes you hear footsteps upstairs that ain't always even, you know I'm tellin' the truth."

The fire crackled and I could hear the crickets sing. Our food rested on plates in our laps, forgotten. Our eyes were wide as we stared at Aunt Mim, then glanced at one another. None of us were scared exactly, just sort of disturbed by the story.

"Is that true?" Iggy asked.

"True as water bein' wet." she gave an evil smile. "You youngsters wanna see her grave?"

"Hell yeah, I do!" Gazzy said standing up.

"Gazzy watch your language! And show some respect for the dead," Mom criticized.

"Oh, don't you worry. Her parents may not taken very good care of Ellie May, but I sure do. I visit her everyday; bring flowers and cookies too." Aunt Mim smiled proudly. "You want to come see her?"

Different levels of enthusiasm met her, but we set our food aside and stood up.

"Hand me one of them there lanterns," Aunt Mim said.

I handed her a flash light and grabbed my own. I held onto Fang's arm as we stumbled over the uneven ground in the dark. We reached a line of trees and walked into the woods. True to her word, a grave stone sat in the ground with fresh flowers and baked goods by it. Grass and a few wild flowers grew over her grave. Her old headstone read:

**Ellie May Rubes**

**1927-1941**

**Beloved**

"Oh," my mom whispered, "That little girl."

"She was only fourteen," Aunt Mim agreed.

There was a few minutes of silence. Our thoughts turned to Ellie May, talking our sorrows to her through prayers.

Time passed and without a word, we followed Aunt Mim back to the fire. I wasn't sure why she chose that story for a ghost when she obviously had- well, I don't know what you'd call. Care, sympathy, respect maybe, for the girl.

When we reached the pit, the fire had gone out. I wondered if I was the only one who noticed the ember's glowing in a dim and very lopsided arrow pointing towards a spot between where me and Aunt Mim had been sitting.

When bed time rolled around, I crawled into my sleeping bag on the living room floor. The guys sneaked Total in during the night, and he was asleep in Gazzy's bag. Aunt Mim hadn't been too happy to hear that all six of were sleeping in the same room, so she had the guys sleeping on one side of the room and the girls on the other.

I couldn't sleep. I was sure I was the last one up. Ellie May's memory still filled my head. And around mid night, I was positive I heard the muffled sobs coming from upstairs.

The third full day passed uneventfully, though I managed to sneak upstairs with Fang, Iggy, and Gazzy. There was a turn lock on the outside of the little door and we opened it. The storage room was basically a crawl space. No one could stand in there. It was about three feet tall and about six feet wide. The floor was cement and Aunt Mim had nothing in that room. It was completely barren.

The next day we packed up and hugged Aunt Mim goodbye. I broke away from the others for a second to visit Ellie May's Grave one last time.  
>"I'm sorry this happened to you," I whispered, and left a small bouquet of flowers I had picked on the way. Then I hurried back to the others and we started our nine hour trek to Arizona.<p>

To put it lightly, that was the longest nine hours of my life. Remember how I said all hell was bound to break loose in that RV? Well, it did. First, Total peed on the floor and caused a fight between Angel, Gazzy, and Nudge about who would clean it. Nudge caught Gazzy reading her diary. My dad walked in on me when I was going the bathroom (I thought the door was locked!). Then a screaming match started between Jimmy and Iggy. Do you know what it was about? Go ahead, guess. You don't know? Well, it was about who ate the last slice of turkey (I think it was Total). And lastly, my mom left her credit card at Aunt Mim's. But thankfully Aunt Mim is mailing to my Aunt in Arizona.

When we finally pulled into my Aunt's drive way, I stepped into the scorching and dusty heat of Arizona.  
>When people talk about Arizona, they usually think there's desert and sand everywhere, but surprisingly -from what I saw- it was city-filled. Grassy, popularized, and modernized.<p>

"Hello, hello, hello!" Aunt Gracey called, standing up from where she stood on her knees in a bed of flowers. "Max!" she said, pulling me into her arms, "How are you sweetie?"

"I'm great. How have you been?"

"I've been wonderful!" she then pulled Angel in her arms for a hug and a kiss. She stepped back, "Henry!" she squawked, her chirpy and kind voice turning demanding, "come here and bring the kids!"

I had seen them a few times before, but not since I was thirteen. I hadn't met their younger three kids either. Once everyone was out front, Aunt Gracey said, "You remember your Uncle Henry, your cousins Ashly, George, Patience, Billy, Jeff, John, Mikki, Zoey, and the three you haven't meet are Courage, Stephanie, and uh, where is he? Oh! And that's Bobby!"

I glanced at Fang.

_This is going to be much worse than the RV ride, isn't it?_

_Yep._

_How is their house so clean with so many kids?_

_Maid service? They're like rabbits._

They showed us around their seven bedroom house, showed us the pool (that would get much use from us consider the heat) and get this, their backyard had a fence around it. A six foot _brick _fence that they were forced to have. Just like all the other cookie cutter houses here.

The oldest was Ashly. She was as old as Fang and I. She was pretty cool, we always hung out together when our families visited.

"So, whose the family with you guys?" she asked. We were laying on rafts, floating around the pool. It would be peaceful except for the, "KANENBALL!"s every few seconds, the slashing and waves, the screams, and the occasional, "MOM!"

"They're friends of the family. I've known their kids since birth."

"Jeez, they live right next to you, right?"

"Uh-huh."

"Doesn't ever get annoy not being able to get away from them?" Her voice was low so no one could over hear.

"Does it ever get annoying not getting away from _them_?" I nodded to her siblings.

She smirked, "Hell yeah. But, y'know, they're family."

"Well, the Dover's are like family to us too," I watched Angel and Nudge play tag with some of the younger kids. All three sets of parents sat a picnic table talking and munching on chips. Iggy, Gazzy, and Fang were in a pool basket ball match with a few of the cousins. "And him," I nodded to Fang. "We started dating."

"All about the easy access, huh?" We laughed.

"And considering he's a great kisser," I flicked my tongue up and down.

"Eyew!" she laughed.

"He's a good guy though, too."

"Oh, that should be a number one priority in a guy. When I was fifteen..." she began to tell me about a guy who she dated that hit her. That is, until one day her dad found out and beat the shit out of that boy.

Two days later, I was lying in the RV bed that had been dubbed mine. Living in an RV with ten people is nothing compared to hearing eleven teenagers and kids fight all the time. No one else was in the RV and - thank God- it was quiet. I had my nose buried in a book and a clip on fan aimed at me, when I felt my bed sink lower with new weight. I glanced up and smiled a devilish smile at Fang. No words were needed as I threw myself into his arms.

Maybe it was the heat, or the fact that we already sweating or just maybe because we hadn't made out in a long time but we clung desperately to each, our tongues shoved halfway down each other's throat. We had been dating awhile now and maybe it was too soon, but when his hand rested against the side of my breast I was thrilled to have that much more contact. In no way was I planning to lose any article of clothing, but a little touching here and there wouldn't hurt, right?

Fang's hand stayed outside outside my shirt the whole time they roamed my chest. Eventually we pulled back, breathing hard. My arms were covered in goose bumps even though it was 94 degrees, and I could hear my heart beat, and my stomach felt all fluttery.

Soon, we curled together on my bed, talking about our trip and the chaos of this family.

Two more days passed, and during that time, Aunt Gracey was able to check Total out and shave him down. She said he was healthy as a horse and had no computer tracking chips. He looked so funny without his fur; he looked like a little rat.

Soon we were saying our goodbyes. There was no way everyone would be able to hug everyone goodbye, so we settle for two lines, going in different directions, high fiving each other, as lame as it sounds.

We climbed into the RV and Total bounced around, jittery and hyped up with excitement. He had no clue what was going on.

Eden pulled onto the road, and we started the next leg of our trip.


	19. Chapter 19 Now

**Now**

**maxridelover- Here it is!**

**BirdKidKirby- Thanks!**

**Bloody'Candy'Addict- Totally!**

We drove straight from Arizona to Eden's mom's house in the smack middle of Texas. Eighteen hours in all and Total was being so extraordinarily annoying. Barking and whining, getting into the bathroom trash, constantly wanting to go out, and -somehow- he figured out how to open suitcases' zippers and spread coats and rain gear through out the RV. I don't think he likes to travel.

It was about six in the morning when we pulled into Annabel and Creg's driving way. They lived in an itty-bitty house on a small farm. They have four horses, two cows, a pond full of ducks, over thirty chickens, a few wild cats that eat the mice, and two acres of crop fields.

Annabel waved from the chicken coop as we left the RV and crunch over the gravel driveway to the grassy yard. I was leaning on my dad, his arm wrapped around my waist as we trekked forward. I was so freakin' tired.

"Well, hi there!" Annabel greeted, walking towards us with her arms open. She began hugging everyone, her thin and worn face set in a smile. The screen door to the patio opened and Creg walked out. "Hello, everyone!" he called as he strode over, giving out hugs, too. I had met them before. They were kind farm folk, who told great stories. I've never seen their house before, though.

After our reunion we went inside, where Creg had cooked a huge breakfast. Total sat under the table, chewing on a bone. As we began to eat, Annabel told us how one of the pregnant horses wandered off yesterday to have her baby. After much searching, they found her by a river, with her beautiful gray colt. I guess they had five horses now.

After breakfast, everyone split up, going to see the animals, or help with chores, me- I went back to the RV and slept 'til one in the afternoon.

Later, Fang and I went with Annabel and met the horses. I had never ridden an actual horse before (without it being led, that is) and when they offered, I was surprised. I didn't even know if I could ride a horse by myself, but before my parents could disagree against it, Fang helped me climb up on a female horse named Pocus. Fang rode a male named Cracket and Annabel rode a female named Blue Bow. The mom horse and colt stayed behind.

I felt proud that I actually made it on top of Pocus. Annabel showed me how to move the reigns and shift my weight. Pocus slowly walked to a dusty area with a giant square white fence around it. We slowly walked into the fenced in square. I clung tightly to the horse as her body swayed and tried my best to keep my balance.

"Sit up straight," Annabel said, "your spine, too. It'll keep ya more balanced."

I followed her instructions and tried to sit straight in the saddle.

"How are you holding up?" Fang asked as Cracket kept pace with us. Annabel trotted forward, letting Blue Bow run.

"Better than I thought I'd be."

Eventually, Pocus and I made a full lap. I was pretty happy with the progress when Annabel rode up, "C'mon, I know you can do better than that," her voice wasn't insulting, just encouraging, "So what it if you fall? You know what you gotta do. Get right back up on that horse and try again," she smiled at her joke. She knew about my FA, but she believed nothing should be able to stop anyone.

So, the three of us went out to the field. Annabel showed Fang and us what to do and how to do it.

With much practice, Pocus walked a little faster, and a little faster, to a trot, to a gallop, and guess what? Soon, I was clutching onto Pocus with my thighs, sitting straight, racing Fang! Can you believe it? Because I sure as hell couldn't. It all felt so exhilarating and amazing and I just felt so ecstatic. I had no clue what I was missing out on. I was definitely finding a riding stable when I got home.  
>We rode the horses back to the stables, laughing madly. Fang helped me down, and I fell into his arms. He smiled and pecked my lips. I stretched out my legs then helped feed and brush the horses. The sun had gone down by the time we went inside and I was starving and even more tired than I was when we had shown up.<p>

Everyone else was eating when we came in. Total barked.

"Where were you guys today?" Mom asked.

"We waited for you guys, but dinner started to get cold," Creg added.

Fang and I met each other's eyes and smirked. "Ridin' Cracket, Blue Bow, and Pocus."

We stayed four more days. They were all filled with horseback riding, moving from the field, to the trails, to the mountains. When our last day on the farm rolled around, I leaned my head against Pocus. I smiled, whispering my thanks. I told her I loved her and kissed her head- even though it was corny- and I said goodbye. On the way back inside, I passed the small cluster of trees where Fang and I had a long and hot make-out session the day before.

We loaded up, put Total in the RV, and hugged Annabel and Creg. We got into the RV and headed to Arkansas.

Fang and I sat side by side, listening to "The Great Escape" By _Boys Like Girls. _We were leaning on each other, tired and sore from riding the horses for so long.

We drove eight -annoyance filled- hours to Jimmy's little brother, Josh and his wife and kids in Arkansas. I was about ready to strangle Nudge and Angel. They had snooped through my stuff and thought it be funny to decorate the RV bedroom in my bras and undies. Hilarious.

We got there about seven in the evening and Eden rang the doorbell. Total wagged his stump of a tale as he curled in Iggy's arms.

Berry -Josh's wife- answer the door. She held a tiny baby in her arms. "Hi guys! Welcome!" she greeted with a big smile. We met Josh and their other kid- a small toddler named Katie.

They lived in the suburbs in and ordinary but pretty house. After eating dinner, and some chit-chat, the six of us went back to the RV to get ready for bed. The adults were sleeping inside, and we could have squished into the living room, if we wanted or we could have slept outside, in the humidity of June- or in the RV.

Angel and Nuge got in there PJ's and went to bed. Gazzy, Iggy, Fang, and I were not going to let the opportunity of us finally being alone slip away. Our parents, a little too trustworthy left something behind. We didn't do it very often, but every now and then wouldn't hurt.

Iggy smiled, pulling a watermelon vodka bottle out of the freezer, a smirk lit his face. We didn't have any shot glasses, so we used Dixie cups- easier to hide the evidence. Iggy poured a full cup for me, Fang, and himself. He poured ¾ into Gazzy's cup. I didn't like him taking a full shot yet. I lifted the cup with both hands and slowly brought it up.

"Cheers!" Fang said.

"For?" Gazzy wondered.

"For... our small amount of freedom," I brought my trembling cup to my lips and down the firey liquid, and proceed to make gagging noises with the rest of the guys. We did two more shots. Then filled the vodka bottle with water so it looked about as full as it was before we started, and put it in the freezer (praying the water wouldn't freeze). We rinsed the paper cups and threw them away. And with a pleasant buzz, do you know what we decided to do? We started a game of truth or dare.  
>I went first, "Iggy, truth or dare?" I pronounced my words carefully.<p>

"Truth," he smiled.

"When will you asked Ella out?" I giggled.

He looked shocked at first, "I don't like Ella like that."  
>I smirked, "Uh huh. If you say so. When?"<p>

Gazzy added an "Ooh" and smirked.

"Soon," Iggy mumbled, then revenged flashed in his eyes. "Fang truth or dare?"

Fang, slightly oblivious at this point goes, "Truth."

"Have you and Max slept together? Or is she still holding onto that V card?"

"Hey, dude! Woah! That's my sister!" Gazzy exclaimed.

"Yeah, pass," I said.

Fang nodded and smirked. "Gazzy? Truth or dare?"

Gazzy looked slightly pained. "Dare?"

"You sure?" Fang smirked.

Gazzy nodded.

"Go get those condoms-"

"I have no condoms!"

"And put a string of them in the Josh's mailbox," Fang smirked. He didn't call Josh or Berry "Uncle or Aunt".

"You guys, this so gross," I mumbled.

"To you." Iggy stuck his tongue out at me, "Close your eyes if you want."

"I don't want to wake the girls. What would they think if they caught me with those?"

"They strung Max's underwear all over the room. They have no shame," Fang smirked.

"Hey!" I defended.

"Just be quiet." Fang told Gazzy.

So Gazzy tip- toed into the room and came out with his hands closed around something.

"Do you really have it?"

"Yes!"

"Prove it."

I glanced away. I did not need to see my brother holding condoms. Iggy and Fang watched out the window as Gazzy put them in the mailbox and quickly stumbled back to the RV.

That's pretty much how the game kept going, revenge and embarrassment.

The following four days were pretty boring. There wasn't much to do or see, we went down to a creek and caught tadpoles but that was about it. Nothing too entertaining, just the average life. On the last day, we said goodbye and started towards Florida.


	20. Chapter 20 Now

**maxridelover- I plan to bring Then chapters back towards the end of the story. There'll probablbe about 3 or 4.**

**BirdKidkirby- Why, thank you ;)**

**Esperanza- No worries :) And thank you!**

**Now**

The commute from Arkansas to Florida took eighteen hours. Eighteen flippin' hours on

the road. It was only supposed to take fifteen, but thanks to traffic, three more hours were added on.

But gratefully, we pulled up to our house on the beach! That's right, a beach house! As soon as we were inside, everyone choose bedrooms (while Total found our bag full of food. By the time we found him, he was in hog heaven and six open chip bags deep). We had exactly enough bedrooms, eight, six bathrooms, a kitchen, a living room, and a family room. Everything was spacious and airy, with tons and tons of windows (even a full wall in some of the bathrooms was completely made of windows) and everything was painted in relaxing colors. It was a little humid, and it was hilarious seeing Nudge freak out about her wild hair.

After unloading everything, we changed, leashed up Total, and hit the beach. On our trek across the cloudy white sand, I met Fang's eyes and smirked, wondering if he'd get the humor. Last time we swam together on a vacation like this, he got a hard on. And I am very proud to admit, when Fang caught my eye, and found out what I thought was funny, he quickly glanced away. Was it my imagination or did his cheeks suddenly get a shade pinker? I quickly stored that away for future embarrassing ammo. The sun was high in the sky and the beach was fulls of people in skimpy bathing suits that made some of the guys' heads turn (including _my _guys. Fang got an elbow to the ribs for that).

We spent the rest of the day playing in the water. Splashing and dunking and having a blast. My mom and Nudge built a really cool sandcastle, too. It wasn't lopsided or anything! About five hours later, we went back to the house, exhausted and sun burnt. As we reached the house, my chest started to throb. I ignored it though, this has occasionally happened to me since I was ten. I had asked my doctor about it before and he said it was my chest muscles weakening. Which is really weird because it makes my heart hurt. Like my actual heart feels like its burning or being stung. It always goes away after a minute or two, and like usual, it went away, though it felt different than it usually did.

We were staying twelve days here. Twelve days! I was so excited for the rest to come, I thought, as I crawled into my bed that night.  
>Remember the scallop shell Fang had given me, like a month and a half ago? Well, I brought it with me. A little reminder, something comforting and familiar in this new house. Not that I was freaked of this house or anything, but it was just nice to hold the shell.<p>

The next few days were focused on the beach – swimming, building sandcastles, boogy boarding, boating in a bay area- sleep, and the times Fang and I managed to spend alone. Our kisses grew familiar, but somehow still felt new each time and something I was lusting after. Fangs hands had finally ventured under my shirt, but nothing further (although, if his hands trailed lower, I wasn't _completely _sureI would stop him).

We rented two mini vans on the sixth day, and we drove two hours to Orlando to go to SeaWorld. I had no clue who was shelling out this kind of money- or that we even _had_ it, but I was glad we did. Mom pushed me in my chair, and Angel took her usual spot in my lap.

We first saw the pet show. I can't remember what it was called, but it was super cute. It had bunch of animals and their trainers doing cute and funny skits. At one point, a bird was flying around, and it was supposed to fly in a window of the Pet's Clubhouse, but no, Mr. Bird felt like flying in a few lazy circles before landing on a bush. A trainer had to come get him. It was pretty entertaining.

Then we went and looked at the animals. The whales and Shamu, polar bears and penguins, seals and fishes. We took a lunch break around noon. We looked around some more, went on some rides a hundred or so times, hit the gift shop, and that was about the time the park kicked us out.

On the way home, Dad lost us. And that added another hour to our ride ride home. Mr. GPS he's not.

The ninth day rolled around and I realized our vacation was coming to an end. We were almost into the month of July, and my summer vacation was coming to an end too.

It was about seven in the evening, and I was lying in my bed, worn out from the past week's events. It was so wroth it though, everything had-

Suddenly I sat up in my bed, gasping for air. Sweat broke out on my neck and I felt cold as I tried to pull air into my lungs. I heard rushing in my ears. Blood. I felt dizzy and the world swirled, I rasped for more breath as I felt my heart beat pick up even more.

"Mom!" I screamed, my voice winded and shaky- glad my door was open. Tried to get more air. Couldn't. Breathe. Breathe. Breathe. Then, darkness.

**Sorry this was a short chapter. Another one is in progress though!**


	21. Chapter 21 Now

**TwiPotterHungerRidePercyLiars- There's a little more Fax in this chapter than there has been. The next few chapters will have lots of Fax in them, too!  
>Psychopathic FanGirl- Thank you so much! Your review made me smile. I'm glad you like it! But uh, what does shipping mean? Worshiping? <strong>

**Now**

I woke up in an ambulance. An EMT hovered over me, and IV was already stuck in my vein. I touched something on my face, a tube going to my nose. An air machine? That's when I felt the strange flopping and twitching sensation in my chest.  
>The medic saw me awake, "You okay? We're almost to the hospital."<p>

"My chest," I murmured, touching where my heart would be, feeling sick.

"I know, Hun," he said, "your heart beat is really high. Try taking deep and even breaths."

"Max?" Mom said frantically, standing and rushing to hold my hand.

"Ma'am please stay in your seat." he said.

She ignored him.

"We're here," the driver said hopping out and opening the back doors. They unloaded the bed I was lying on, and Mom had to let go of my hand for a second. We rushed into the hospital and my mom and I were taken to a room.

"What happened?" I asked her, as a nurse hurried to take my blood pressure.

"You called for me and when got to your room, you had fainted." she blinked hard, "You had fallen out of bed and you were shaking on the floor." She paused, bit her lip, then said, "Only one person could ride in the ambulance, the others are on their way."

Despite the feeling in my chest, I managed to smirk at the though of our huge RV speeding down the highway at 80 MPH. Gazzy or Iggy's finger probably out the window, flipping off the people honking at them.

The nurse then listened to my heart, her eyebrows came together. Then she and my mom helped me change into a hospital gown- or "johnny" as my mom called it- and I was then set up for a blood test. Two vials later I wasn't feeling so hot. I was dizzy and my head hurt, my chest felt so freaking weird and for the life of me, I could not catch my breath.

The nurse then wheeled in another EKG machine.

"Alright, Max. Do you know what an electrocardiogram is?"

I nodded mumbling, "Been there, done that."

She opened my gown, and placed the the stickers- well, she called them electrodes, but stickers are easier and more fun to say- around my chest.

When the EKG was over, she listened to my heart again, "Good! That's really great. Your heart beat is starting to slow down," she said; then a minute later she left the room with the paper the machine printed up.

Mom held my hand. "It's all okay now," she soothed, "Everything is going to be fine." Her phone rang, and she took it out of her purse one handed. She talked for a minute, then said, "The others are out in the lobby."

I nodded. How long would I have to stay in this hospital? More than anything, I wanted to be home- home, as in my house in Oregon.

A knock sounded and the nurse and a doctor came in.

"Hi, Max. I'm Dr. Flutee." he said.

"Hi," I said, as he shook my mom's hand and she introduced herself.

He flipped through his clip board papers. "So, I see you have had so heart problems before."  
>Mom nodded.<p>

"Okay, what happened was a Ventricular Tachycardia event. That's when your beat spikes and it is so rapid it doesn't effectively pump blood throughout your body. Soon, your organs and tissues start being deprived of oxygen. When you first came in, your heart was beating up to a hundred sixty times a minute, but it has gradually decreased since then."

"But why did she faint?" Mom asked.

"That was a syncope event. A large and sudden increase or decrease in blood pressure."

I was only half listening. I was glad I was okay, but I was so dizzy. I just wanted the room to stay still and go to sleep. Ugh.

"She's alright to go home, but you guys should talk to your regular heart doctor, too. If you have any concerns or questions, you can call us or come by."

We thanked him and the nurse, and my mom helped me down the hall. I was leaning heavily on her as the room spun. She talked about my heart the whole way to the lobby. How it was going to be fine, we'd talk to our doctor when we got home, everything would okay, I'm healthy.

When we reached the lobby waiting room, I felt embarrassed for the scene. When everyone saw me and Mom, they jumped up with worry in their eyes. I know I couldn't exactly help what happened, but my stomach knotted with embarrassment.

I hugged my dad and then Eden, who kept me in her arms as Mom told the story. We went out to the RV. Everything safe and sound.

I leaned on Fang on the way home. We kept up a quiet conversation no one else could hear.

"You alright?" he asked, as we pulled onto the highway.

"I guess..." I mumbled.

"Are you feeling okay?"

"What do you think this means?" I asked in hushed voice.

"Nothing," he said quickly, "it was just your heart beating too fast."

"But it came out of no where! I mean, I was just sitting there," the next thought hit me like a fly swatter hits a fly against a window, "I don't think the Ideb is working."

"It is, though! You even said it was."

"I don't think it is, anymore."

""Don't think things like that."

"But look at this Fang," I gave him a sad smile, held up my hand. My fingernail tips were a blueish purple color. "The doctor said it should go away soon, though. Fang, what if this happens again?"

"It won't."

"What if my heart starts to get even more worse?"

"It won't. We haven't even heard from Dr. Havensen!"

"But gut says this isn't a good sign."

"Max, stop thinking so negatively! You've never thought this way before! Just because one thing happened, doesn't mean it's a bad sign! Just think... everything will be okay." He said in a low voice.

I didn't say anything for the rest of the ride, not wanting to upset him. I didn't tell him I was thinking the truth and that by saying 'everything's okay' he was trying to force a lie down my throat.

That night, all of us camped out in the living room. I'm not sure if he was because we were all feeling needy after what happened, and wanted to be close to one another, or if I needed anything, they could help or to just make sure another heart thing wouldn't happen. It started out with my mom planning to sleep with me in my room, then Angel and Nudge wanted to, too. And hey! Since it was a party, Fang wanted to. So we moved to the living room. Then Dad came out of his room, then Gazzy, Eden and Jimmy, then Iggy came out to get a drink of water and he felt left out so he pulled out some blankets and his pillow, too.

The next day, I woke up feeling dizzy, but still better. Mom called Dr. Havensen. He said I should come home ASAP. I needed another holter monitor.

So, everyone agreed to cut our vacation short and went to pack up. I had apologized to everyone, telling them sorry about our vacation being shortened, but they were more concerned about the well- being of my heart than staying the last two days of our vacation. But that didn't stop the guilt or the tears that filled my eyes as I packed. Maybe it was because I was tired, or I was afraid of what what might happen, maybe, but when one tear escaped my hard blinking eyes, the rest followed. I quietly closed the door and sat on my bed, letting the tears flow. So much for Miss Optimistic.

When the tears stopped, I wiped my face, hopping it wasn't red, stood up, and carried my two suit cases and pillow to the front door. I walked into the kitchen to get something to drink and bumped into Fang.

"Sorry," I said, then grabbed a water bottle from the fridge.

"It's o- have you been crying?"

I touched my face, my back still turned toward Fang, to make sure I didn't have tears or anything on my face.

"No." I took a sip of water and set the bottle on the counter.

Fang's arms closed around my waist, "What's wrong?" He kissed my neck.

"Nothing." I turned around so I was facing Fang. "I just feel bad about making everyone leave."

"Well, you shouldn't. Not your fault."

I sighed.

"Nobody is mad at you. Don't feel so guilty." He kissed my lips.

"Sorry."

"Stop acting like that."

I started blinking tears again. I could get mad, I could push him away and tell him to fuck off, but instead I burrowed into his chest and he held me close, running his fingers through my hair.

"It's okay, it's alright," he murmured. I wasn't crying or anything, but the comfort felt good. Wanting more of it, I leaned closer, touching my lips to Fang's. He held me tight around the waist and I rested my hand on his face. His tongue traced my lips, and I let him in. His took touched my inner lip and goose bumps broke out on my arms and chest. I met his tongue, glad to actually feel my stomach twist with heat. I held Fang closer as our tongues entered the battle of ecstasy. I felt Fang tremble against me as he took in a breath. This all felt so incredible, so blissful after all that happened.

"Woah! Make out city!" Nudge exclaimed. Honestly, I was surprised we hadn't been caught sooner.

We glared at Nudge 'til she scampered from the room.

Feeling better, and definitely more awake, we loaded up, made Total go potty, then hit the road.


	22. Chapter 22 Now

**Thank you so much for RandR-ing. It meansa lot to me. :)**

**Sorry it took so long to update. My birthday was last week and my sister threw me a surprise party! It was crazy!**

**Now**

Driving home from Florida took a little more than two days. The ride home was quiet. Not fun or joking or annoying like the last. I knew it was because everyone was tired. Or, at least I told myself that. I think the weight had finally dropped on everyone- this wasn't a good sign; this wasn't the news we were hoping for.

We eventually got RV fever and had to climb out in the chilly air of some forest full of pine trees. Dad said we were halfway home. We spent an hour in the wind before heading back into the RV. I was dying to get home- and I hated how everyone was acting. They were babying me and it was pissing me off, "Max do you need this?" "Max do you want these?" "Are you hungry?" "Are you cold?" "Do you want to walk around?" "Do you need help?" It was driving me fucking crazy! I eventually went and hid in the bedroom, crawling into my bed. It wasn't that big of a deal. I mean, I was still capable of doing things. So what if my heart beated too fast? We were seeing Dr. Havensen when we got home. One way or the other, it would work out. I didn't need to be treated like I was mentally inept. See what I did there? I even used a big word.

In the room, I eventually got bored and started up a game of Monopoly. And yep, they were still up my ass with the questions. The game ate up about three hours, thank God, and ten minutes later we pulled into the driveway at 2:07 AM. We were finally, _thankfully_ home! I felt the warmth of the house- even though the heater was off and it was about 40 degrees Fahrenheit out.

We unloaded and once Total got in the house, he flipped out, sniffing everywhere, rooms, couches, nosing open cupboards. It was funny. For the night, he'd stay with Nudge, and in the morning we'd talk more about it. Completely unloading the RV took and hour and a half; then Dad took the RV back and Jimmy tailed him in his truck.

I hugged and kissed Fang goodnight, said bye to the others, and we went inside. Our suit cases and blankets and bags were piled by the entry. Mom said we would just deal with it in the morning. We said night, and finally, finally, I crawled into bed. I was so glad to be home. I felt warm and safe and considerably better than I had the last few days. I just felt like I had the best outlook, now that we made it home.

We'd see Dr. Havensen at three today. So hopefully everyone gets enough sleep or Mom might be a real bitch.

I closed my eyes, figuring sleep would help even more, and tried to drift to slumber land.

Let's just say, my idea of sleeping in late did not turn out like I thought I would. Angel woke up at seven and woke up Nudge and they brought Total over here, and I guess he didn't remember being here, because he started running all around again, and knocked over an end table, broke a vase, and jump into _my_ bed. And to top it all off, he was dripping wet from the rain and freezing cold. No way was I going back to sleep after that. So, Mom made them clean up and then go play in Angel's room. I made a bed and lay on the couch, feeling miserable and sick and not able to fall back asleep. I hate feeling this kind of tired, everything hurt and ached, I was starving but no way was I going to move, and I walked ten times worse then usual. What a great day this was turning out to be.

It rain on and off the whole day and around twelve, Fang came over and we were able to watch a movie and a half before going to the doctor's.

Fang came this time, while my mom drove. When we reached the doctor's office, she was practically shaking with nerves. I could she was worried by the way she messed her words up and how _she_ held on to my arm, instead of the other way arm. Hey, maybe she caught FA; maybe it's in the air -ha!

I wasn't sure about Fang, though. I didn't notice any ticks or differences them normal. He just wore that easy expression he usually does. When Mom went to check in, I couldn't take it anymore, "What are you thinking?" I asked.

He shrugged.

I sighed, "You're not helping."

Then he sighed, "I'm not thinking anything. I don't want to think or worry about the 'what if's. It won't help anything. All I can do is be here for you and not let you go through this alone."

I smiled and rested my head on his shoulder, "You sound so serious."

He shrugged, a smile in his eyes.

"How can you be so sure your going to go through it all with me?"

This time, he did smile, "Haven't I always?"

My mom came back a second later and sat down, "We can get lunch when we're done." Fang and I nodded, as Mom rested her hand on my leg. She gave me a confident smile.

We were called back and we went through the usual, weight, height, blood pressure, kicking Fang out, changing, EKG, I Spy, then the ultra sound. We were sent back into our room. We waited there for half an hour before the doctor came in. Mom was practically bouncing in her seat with anxiety.

"Hello, Max, Nick, Valencia. So we've gone over our results, and Max, I'm sorry to say you have to where another halter monitor."

"Oh, God, no!" I mentally shouted a few words that would have thrown me in house lock down again. "I have to wear that thing _again_?"

"I'm sorry. You will have to wear it for a month this time, four weeks, but you can take it off when you sleep. You'll have twenty minutes to shower every other day."

"Did you guys find anything else out from the ultra sound?" Mom asked urgently.

Dr. Havensen nodded, "It doesn't look like the Idebenone is working." he pressed his lips together, and added, "There's still a chance, sometimes it takes a while to kick in. The heart wall hasn't made any big changes, but it looks a little... different then did last time."

"Different as in?" I asked.

"… It doesn't match the last ultra sound exactly. You see, Dilated cardiomyopathy, which as you know, is the weakening of the heart. So it's possible that this is the heart wall enlarging even more. But don't worry! This could also be defined by the way you were laying or the different techniques of the ultra sound technicians But don't fret! The halter monitor will clear everything up. Don't get upset until we find out more."

So that was that. We said goodbye to the doctor and the nurse came in and put on my halter monitor. We left the building lost in thought. I could feel shift of Mom's mood and I knew she was pissed. I wonder what brought it on. Was it my heart that had made her angry? Maybe it was the lack of info. Because I was kind of lost myself.

We climbed into the car. "Is anyone else confused, or is it just me?" I played with the strap to my monitor.

"Well, you should have said something to the doctor," Mom snapped.

"I just wanted to know what you guys thought it meant." I mumbled.

"There's nothing _I _can tell you better than the doctor could." Her lip curled, as her 'mean' voice rose.

I knew she was tired and upset- but guess what? She wasn't the only one! She's the one who always says 'attitude is everything', yet here she is, taking her bitchy-ness out on me.

"No need to be such a bitch about it." I muttered. I have never, _ever_ called my mom -to her face- something worse than 'not nice'. This was basically like dropping a bomb on her little world.

"_Excuse_ me?" she demanded.

"You heard me! You're acting like a B-I-T-C-H." She jumped around in her seat, raised her arm -was she going to hit me?- then froze. Slowly, she turned back around and started the car. "Don't you dare speak to me like that again! And for your information," Oh god, I thought, "I am not acting like a bitch. And another thing, you'll be grounded for a month. G-r-o-u-n-d-e-d."

And poor Fang just sat there, trapped, with a confused expression, his head back and forth like he was watching a tennis match

I should have kept my mouth. I _knew_ I should have kept me mouth shut, but, too late, I was on a roll. "A month? Oh, great! I'll be stuck in the house with this monster taped to my chest watching and feeling my heart start to collapse in on itself! For all I know -because by the grace of God, no one has explained it to me!- I could be _dead_!" I spit the last word. It held the weight an elephant. Well, that's what is was. An elephant in the room.

Thankfully, we were at a red light, because she sat their stiff and -from the side of her face I could see- slack jawed. I silently and immaturely added _So there._

And for all I knew, it could be true. Life and death held a thin line. It's hard to image mixing the two. You can't be alive but dead. You can't be dead- a corpse and still be alive. You could have dying organs. Dying cells. Dying muscles. _You_ could be dying. But not dead yet. And in most cases, dying wasn't a set date or month or year. As I thought about, this didn't feel like the year I was going to die. Or the next year, or the one after that. It's strange to think about your own death. Does it hurt?

We drove home in silence. I expected it from my mom, but not from Fang. He didn't move. Didn't look at me. Didn't acknowledge me.

When we got home -man, was I sick of driving- Mom didn't say anything when I followed Fang to his house through the rain. Fang's family wasn't home; cars gone. Fang shut his bedroom door as I flopped on his bed.

"Please, don't say things like that anymore." he said, sitting next to me and pushed his hair back.

"What?"  
>"What you said in the car."<p>

"Oh. Why?"  
>"I just don't like hearing things like that about you. Especially when you say it."<p>

"Oh. I'm sorry," I bit my lip. "What do you think is going to happen, though?"

He sighed, "You're going to get better."

I smile, then crawled onto his lap so we were chest to electrodes, face to face. My legs straddled his thighs. This has probably been the most seductive pose we've been in since dating. Besides him walking in on me. "This monitor is getting to be a real pain in the butt. We can't really do anything with it on."

He gave me an evil smile, "Would you be willing to give up one of your every-other-day showers?"

I smiled. I knew what he was getting at. If we were gonna do any messing around under the shirt, I'd have to take off my monitor. And to take off my monitor, I'd have to take it off my shirt.

I bit lip, did I really want to do it now? With a time limit and maybe red dots? But Fang's family wasn't home. When would we get another chance?

"You have to take your shirt off too."

Before I even finished the sentence, he had whipped off his shirt. Even though he had already seen me naked before, he wanted to see me topless again. And even though he had already seen me naked before my nerves still spiked.

"You can't peek," I said, standing up. Fang rested his hands on my hips steadying me.

"I won't."  
>He didn't ask if I was okay with this, he knew if I wasn't I would have stopped. "Close your eyes," I said, walking too his desk.<p>

"Okay."

I tried to be careful not to stumble or stub my toe. Facing the desk, I pulled off my shirt, un-clipped my bra. Then slowly pulled the stickers off, thankfully they didn't leave a mark. The past days events, finding out about my heart, getting another monitor, fighting with Mom, only encouraged me and pushed me further. I wanted to feel happy, and safe, maybe even loved. And that place was in Fang's arms. I covered up with one arm and walked back to Fang. "Keep 'em closed," I warned.

I climbed back onto his lap, breathing quietly. I pressed my chest against his and he caught his breath. I touched my lips to his and held me close, kissing me back.

When night time rolled around, Fang walked me home. Nothing more than getting to second base happened, which I was grateful for. Not ready for that. Besides, we didn't have enough time. We had three minutes to spare this time and Fang quickly helped me put the monitor back on. And his family came home an hour later.

Fang and I kissed and he said goodbye. I went into the house and into the kitchen, following the smell of Pizza. My mom sat at the table. I didn't say anything to her and she didn't either.

Carrying two slices on a paper plate, I called night to Dad, Angel and Gazzy. I flopped onto my bed, feeling blissfully happy.

**I hope that scene wasn't too graphic. This is my first 'T' rated story. Hope you liked the chapter!**


	23. Chapter 23 Now

**Now**

It was three weeks later- almost through wearing my heart monitor!- when my heart beat picked up again. Probably at the worst possible minute, too. Mom an Angel were at girl scouts, Dad at work, Gazzy off with friends, and Fang and I had the house to ourselves. Like most normal hormonal teenagers, we were taking advantage of the time, kissing on my bed. Our shirts were on though (no way was I going three days without a shower) and so was my monitor when I started feeling out of breath and that weird twitching feeling again in my chest.

"Fang," I said quickly pulling away, "It's happening, again."

I counted heartbeats per minute and got to a hundred twenty while Fang called Mom and Dad. Neither answered so we called the hospital; told them what was going on. They said unless my heart beat got over 140, I didn't need to come in. So, we wound up on the couch watching TV and waiting for my heartbeat to change. Eventually, it slowed. I was down to one hundred beats (almost back to normal!) when Angel and Mom came home. We told them what happened and Mom asked, "Are you alright?"

I said, "Yeah."

"Do we need to go to the hospital?"

"I don't think so."

Then she left and went to her bedroom, leaving a trail of coldness and irritation behind her. We've barely spoken since we had the fight. Neither of us had made a move to say sorry and I wasn't planning to be the first to say it. I didn't feel guilty for calling my mom the "B" word either. I mean, I guess we both over reacted, but my mom was the one who initiated the fight.

Soon we entered the month of August, and ten days later the monitor came off and went back to the doctor. We'd find out the results Monday, same day school started. The next day was my birthday. I was seventeen. Finally seventeen, almost an adult. I didn't feel very different, though. First, we rung it in by getting our school schedules. Then some friends came over and we went to an amusement park.

Angel, Nudge, Mom, and Eden were inside with the daycare kids when Fang, Iggy, Gazzy, Zack, Brooke, Ella and I left. Nudge and Angel were a little disappointed not to go, but they understood it was just 'teenagers'. But I promised we'd go see a movie that weekend.

Fang loaded my chair in the back and we started the thirty minute -ugh- drive. Don't ask me how we managed to squeeze in seven people in a five person seated car without getting caught by parents or authorities.

The lines weren't too long, but we still got front of the line thanks to the chair. It was a blast! At one point, Fang decided he wanted to get a work out, so he pulled me up in his arms bridal style and Ella and Brooke hopped in my wheelchair and Zack was being all wimpy- complaining they were too heavy. It was hilarious. We were laughing and hollering and getting funny looks, but the whole thing was a ball!

Around evening, we came ate cake and opened gifts. Mom told me a slightly warm, "Happy birthday" and sang along with everyone, but that was about it.

On Sunday, Ella and I went back to school shopping.

We walked down an aisle and grabbed random supplies and put them in the cart.

"Are you and your mom still fighting?" she asked.

I sighed, "Yep."  
>"Aren't you guys kind of blowing it out of proportion? I mean, this thing has been going on for -what?- almost a month?"<p>

"Maybe. But at this point -and for going on so long- neither of us are going to be the first to give in and fix it. I know we're still sort of mad over the fight and all... but it feels like were fighting about something else. I don't even know what! Mom and I never really had the best relationship."

"Yeah but still, why don't you just say sorry and everything will be fixed? Get over it?"

"It's not that easy now. It _has _been a month!" I gave a mean laugh. "Wow. It does seem kind of ridiculous that it lasted this long. I just never expected my mom to hold out this long."

The next day, school started. My first class was language arts and thank God Ella was in it, too. It's not that I didn't like the class... but it got boring at times. School wasn't my thing. I went through three more classes -showing my pass and explaining why I needed to leave five minutes early (by then, most students at my school new about my FA, too) and listening to boring syllabuses- and finally sat down at my usual lunch table. My school was small enough to only have one lunch session. I'd hate to have two lunches and not see some of my friends.

The rest of the day dragged by (like a zombie with no legs- _very_ slowly) and Iggy, Gazzy, Fang, and I drove home. Mom's car was gone. The guys went to Fang's house to watch some wrestling movie on pay-preview and when I got home, my dad was on the phone. He hung up a minute later.

I was sitting on the couch, knowing he had the results. When he sat down next to me, I was tempted to tune what he said out. It wasn't good. I could tell -by the way he sighed through his nose and bit his lip. Remember that horrible voice? Well, it came back, and it spoke like it was telling a haunting secret when it said, it "It probably wouldn't be good news ever again."

"Max... the doctor called and his words were "-since May, Max's heart wall has enlarged by 4%-"

"But that's good right? It's a small number?" I didn't mean for my voice to come out as desperate as it sounded.

He pressed his lips together, "Lets just say, it's not the news we wanted to hear. He says the Ideb isn't working; you don't need to take it anymore-"

"So, what?"

"Huh?"

"What do we do? Meds? Diet? Exercises?"

"Max -Sweet Heart," Oh, fuck. This was not good. "You remember how he had already said you at risk for a heart attack?" He shook a little, like he was cold, "Um, well," he inhaled a deep breath and he covered his mouth with his hand, "It's almost a given now. And there's nothing we can do."


	24. Chapter 24 Now

**Psychopathic FanGirl- If only that were real life. Like in some fairy tale, turn the love into a potion to cure her.**

**BirdKidKirby- I swear you can see the future. Well, half of it!**

**JealousMindsThinkAlike- It is sad :( but that's life. Some people are tougher than others, though. Spread the love!**

**Salavator- Whore- Maybe she won't ;) you never know.**

**Now**

Dad tried to talk to me more, said a few more things, but I wasn't listening. Couldn't right now, at least.

He said, "Are you okay?"

I nodded, gave him my best, 'I'm fine, I can take on anything' tough face smile.

"You know you're mom and I love you."

_Right_. "Uh-huh. Love you too. I'll be back."  
>I needed to think, before I talked to anyone. "Did you tell Mom?"<br>He nodded, "I called her while she and the kids were at McDonald's. She's on her way home."

I nodded, calling, "I'll be back in awhile." Then walked out the back door. The sun was radiating it's happy shine down on the world today, when I was begging for the coolness of the rain. Coldness clears your head.

At least the grass isn't slippery, I thought, as I made my way to the tree house. God, when was the last time I came up here? Like, two months ago?

I climbed up the warm hand and foot holds, trying desperately not to slip or wind up smashing my face against the bark. I was getting too old for this.

I made it in the house and plopped onto the floor; stretching out.

My heart. Man, it's screwed up. I didn't feel sad. Couldn't. Self pity was not a pretty color to wear. I guess I've always know my disease would kill me. That's one of the things doctors will tell you, most FA-ers die as young adults.

If you lose the 'S' between the I and the E in disease and add and E, what do you get? DIE-EASE, (okay maybe a little hoky, but I was trying to be poetic). Die- ease. Die easily? I hope it's easy. And when would it happen? This year? This school year? Would I go to college? I was going to leave this world. Go somewhere else. Hopefully, I'd be healthier. Everyone would be healthy, no sicknesses at all.

My disease eats my muscles (not literally). Steals my energy. Slowly taking more and more and making my body deteriorate. But everything in this world is made of some form of energy or another. When people die, doctors can bring them back with a shock of energy. Energy is all around. Energy is what I'm losing. What happens when I run out?

How will I die? Does my heart just keep enlarging until it can't take it anymore? Say, "Fuck you, Max." and give out? What happens to my body outside? Do I start looking like some long- term drug user? What will Fang think? Or do? What should I do about Fang?

I sat up, suddenly wanting to cry. I'd leave Fang. Or would he leave me? Would this be the final straw for him, tired of having a sick and dying girlfriend? Save himself? He should save himself. He can't save me. Could I hide this for awhile? Savor the few moments before he breaks up with me?

Or I could break up with him. _I _could save him.

There was no way I could hide it from anyone. Everyone probably would know by tonight. Max is dying. Her disease finally caught up to her. I wish I could hide it. Don't want people to feel bad for me. I couldn't stand the pity in their eyes. I was still strong, give me the world, and I'd face it on, head first.

But reality was, my body was deteriorating, and my heart was pooping out on me. Would that speed things along with my FA progression? Would I start losing more abilities faster?

I didn't want Fang to see me sick; getting worse. Would this send me permanently into a chair faster? I don't want Fang to hear me when I couldn't form a coherent sentence. Didn't want my family to see me like that -if I ever reached that far- either.

Would that even happen? Would my body start shutting down faster?

I climbed down the tree and rushed to the house (with only one face plant in the grass). Total yipped at me as I hurried to the computer room. I locked the door so no one could bug me, yet. I began my research seeing how you could die from it and how it effected FA.

Half an hour later, I deleted my history. Three ways I could die from this.

One -the obvious- heart attack. Second, sudden arrhythmia -or ventricular fibrillation- I had to look that one up. It basically says your heart starts having "uncoordinated fluttering contractions" instead of actual heartbeats. People usually pass out and their heart stops within minutes. Third, acute pulmonary oedema. The heartbeat gets so bad, that fluid fills up the lungs. The person drowns in their on bodily liquids. How gross. How sad.

Areas do turn blue from lack of oxygen. Eyes get dilated. Major shortness of breath. More tachycardia events, until death. Something about coughing up blood.

FA gets worse. Quick, too. The body can't handle the lack of oxygen.

I didn't know what to do. What to feel. It was going to get bad. I wouldn't go out easy. Peacefully and gracefully. I snorted, like I've ever been graceful in my life.

I wouldn't feel sorry for myself. Can't stoop that low. I'd enjoy my time that I had before things got worse. When they did... I would have to break up with Fang.

Then... I guess I'd live in my room. Would I wind up in a hospice?

No, thank you.

With my mind racing, I left the computer room.

I bumped into Gazzy.

"Hey, watch where you're going! I'm cripple, what's your excuse?"

"I thought you said you weren't going to let 'a fat ventricle kill' you!" He glared me down, blaming me. He rushed to his room, slamming the door.

Nice to see you, too. Thanks for the encouraging words.

I guess Dad told him. Probably Angel, too. Mom would of told Eden by now. Eden would tell Jimmy. Nudge would over hear. Tell Iggy and Fang.

I walked into the kitchen, Angel and Dad were at the table. When Angel saw me, she ran over; wrapped me in a hug and squeezed tight.

"It's fine, baby. I'm okay," I said, brushing my fingers through her hair.

Dad gave me a small smile. I wanted to talk to him, but not in front of Angel.

"We don't you go play with the little kids?" I asked Angel.

"They went home earlier. And I'm not that dumb. If you want me to leave just ask," she smirked, walking out the backyard with Total by her heels.

"Thanks," I called.

"Do you want me to get Mom? She's in her room." he offered.

"No, it's okay." I plopped into a chair. "So, what are we gonna do?"  
>"Just... wait and see what happens."<p>

"How fast does it progress?"

"It depends," he shrugged, "But your heart is increasing a little faster. The doctor wants you to wear a heart monitor every seven weeks, now."

"Fantastic." I stood up. "I'm going to Fang's." I left the house and hurried to Fang's. I didn't want to talk to anyone, and I sneaked through the house. No one saw me. I walked into Fang's room and shut the door.

"Hey." I said, climbing on the bed next to him.

"Hey," he turned to kiss me. He didn't say anything, but it was there in his eyes. He knew.

"So, I guess my heart's goin' on strike."

He gave me a small smile. Kissed me again. "It'll be okay," he said.

I wasn't sure what to say to him. Want could I say without him freaking or getting pissed?

I took a long shot, "It won't be pretty."

"You're always pretty."

"And you're cheesy." I smiled at him. Then frowned. "What do you think is going to happen?"

He paused. "It's going to get better."

I sat up, annoyed now. "Why do you keep saying that? It's just false hope. My heart is finally giving up and by you saying 'it's going to get better' won't change anything."

He looked at me. I expected him to say something cheesy. Or, maybe fight back. "I hope gets better. But if doesn't, you'll still have all of us here for you."

"What if..." Say it. "what if it does... stop working?"

"Don't say things like that."

"Fang! God. I just want to know what you think."

"Well, what do you want me to say?"

"I-I don't know..." That you'll move on. Forget me.

Nudge barreled into the room. "Max! Are you okay?"

"Yeah." I sighed. "Fine."

Later that night, I went home. I sat at the table with the others and ate dinner. Gazzy gave me the cold shoulder. Mom asked if I was okay.

That night I sat on my bed. I guess I'd just go through the motions. School. Play the girlfriend. The daughter. Sleep.

I was going to have to watch for even more clumbsy-ness. Jerky-ness, too. Listen to the doctor when he tells me about my heart. Once I started going down hill, way down, I'd have to end things with Fang. I'd do it so he could have a real life, a better life. He could get a healthy girlfriend. Until them, we'd live our dating life to the fullest. Have fun. Until he can't stand to see me so messed up. Until I couldn't stand -literally- for him to see me like at, either. I'd have to break up. Hide in my room from then on and wait. It was gonna hurt. I was going to be sad and lonely- but at least I could do something. I could save Fang.

Like Dad said, a heart attack was almost a given.

I went through the week, feeling like nothing had changed. I still felt like Max. And the next week passed uneventfully.

The next week on Thursday, the third week of school, my heart speed up, freaking out. I didn't tell anyone, was just hid in my room until it passed.

Another week went by. And another. Five weeks had gone by. I guess time really does go on. One more week until I went to the doctor for another monitor.

It was late on Friday night and I sneaked into the tree house to meet Fang. I guess our parents had been right that Fang and I would go up their to have some alone time. Good thing they didn't enforce the 'off limits' rule. The house had turned into our little get away. Where we could actually be by ourselves with no one eavesdropping. Plus we'd had some pretty hot and heavy make out session up here. I'd been holding off on anything under the belt –which I do admit tortured Fang. It was funny- but I was starting to lean towards doing more then second base. If I was going to die, I didn't want to die a virgin. I wanted to experience everything life had to give.

And- I wanted Fang to remember our good times. Know I cared about him enough to let him be my first. Besides, I was ready.

I hadn't told Fang what I had been thinking about. I didn't want him to expect this would be the night it happens. If I wanted to back out, I still could.

I had under rolled the sleeping bags we kept hidden in the tree house. It was dark and foggy, except for flashlight cutting a path of light through the night. I even brought a few condoms. Major embarrassment. I had to drive to the drug store we usually didn't go to -which was about ten miles away- and try to stop my cheeks from turning red and looking like some immature young girl who didn't even know what sex is, let alone by condoms.

I checked the time on my phone. Sighed. See, Fang has this thing called chronic lateness. It's common but very serious. And sadly, there's no cure for this illness.

Suddenly I heard someone's feet scuff as they made their way up the tree. Fang's face popped into view.

"Anytime in the next hundred years," I grumbled.

He grinned at me and walked over to the sleeping bags. He pulled me into his lap and I brought my lips up to his.

"I've been thinking it over," I said, throwing my original plan out the window and taking the plunge to tell Fang.

He kissed my neck intensity building, "Hmm?"

I brought his lips back to mine, not sure what to say or how to say it. Like saying, "I'm ready." is so corny and over used. Fang's tongue entered my mouth and we both forgot what we were saying. I loved when Fang kissed me. Loved the feeling of fireworks throughout my body.

I pulled Fang's shirt over his head, placing my on his stomach. I held him closer, and he rubbed his hand down my arm raising goose bumps. Total ecstasy. Our eyes locked as passion and danger flashed in his eyes. He realized what I was planning. He carefully lift my shirt over my head; un-hooked my bra. He was ready. I was ready. And I felt so close to Fang.

My body tingled as he bent his head and brushed his lips against my collarbone. I gasped. Everything felt some warm and our bodies buzzed. Being electrified by each tough. He brought his lips back to mine and I tangled my hands in his soft hair. He sighed and his hips pressed to mine as he lied us down.

I gasped at the new pressure.

He bent his head again, kissing my stomach. My belly button.

I knew Fang; I could count on him. I knew I could trust him. I could trust him with this.

* * *

><p>When everything was over, we laid together. Our legs still tangled. I held Fang close to me. One of his hands held my waist, the other snagged in my hair.<p>

Our breathing was labored as he brushed his lips against my damp head. He leaned back down and gently trailed his finger down a vein across my chest, sending shocks and tingles. I felt so alive in that moment.

The whole thing had been incredible. Only a flash of pain and it resided quickly. Things were timid and sloppy at first, both of us nervous. But we fell into step with each other quickly.

Talk about pure ecstasy. It was so intense, I wondered how people could live without it. And for the first time, while my body was was begging for more please, so was my head and my heart, instead of urging me to wait. There's was nothing holding me back. I was doing everything life had to offer an' gosh darn it I was going to have fun doing it!

"Do you realize how beautiful you are?"

I blushed, "You're corny," I said, but smiled anyway.

"I'm being serious. Every inch of you is beautiful."

My face stung more, I added, "You're very handsome." I pecked his lips.

"Well, I guess the parents were right about us coming up here o have sex."

I slapped his arm playfully, "You're first thought after we have sex is about our parents?"

He smirked, "No. I was thinking about you. That was mind blowing... It was go for you too... right?" He added, looking sheepish.

I couldn't help it, I laughed, throwing my head back. I hugged his head to my chest and kissed his hair. "Yeah. It was amazing," I admitted, "It was so," I smiled nervously, stumbling over my words, "I mean- I just- I never felt anything like that before."

He kissed my neck. "I know what you mean."

"I wasn't exactly sure how the whole... FA thing would play into this," I said, cheeks heating up again, feeling even more vulnerable talking about this. "Like, I wasn't sure how it'd end up feeling or if like, - hell could I even have good sex? 'Cause you know FA screws with your muscles and the best part... is in... your muscles," I fidgeted, feeling embarrassed. Why'd I even say that?

It was his turn to laugh, "You're so funny right now." He kissed a spot below my ear brushing a hand against my back and pushing hair away from my face.

Nothing could ruin this moment.

"Max... I love you." Mt stomach suddenly coiled happily, my heart fluttered – in a good way- I felt warm. He loved me.

Except that. What the hell was I supposed to say? Wasn't I supposed to break up with him soon?

I paused. What was my new motto? Live life to the fullest? I was going to add 'be honest' to that too.

I grinned, "I love you too."


	25. Chapter 25 Now

**Psychopathic FanGirl- Fangles? Too funny!**

**Now**

Fang and I stayed cuddled close most of the night. We talked about school, friends, us, but avoided the touchy subject of my heart. We ended up having sex again, not sure when we'd be able to sneak away again.

The sun was just beginning to wake up at five AM and Fang and I decided to head back before we got caught. He helped me walk to my window -apparently sex threw off my balance- and we kissed goodbye. He held me in his arms and we touched our lips together. He whispered, "I love you."

I smiled against his cheek, "I love you."

We kissed one more time and then I fumbled up my window and into my room. A pulse of worry went through me. I didn't usually have this much trouble crawling through the window. Last night I stumbled down and out of the window, but it was dark. And today... my legs were just stiff. That was all. I'd try it again and prove I could climb out just like I used to.

I walked into the bathroom and smiled. Fang and I. We had finally taken that major step. My stomach fluttered happily with excitement. I turned on the shower, as I replayed everything that happened last night in my head. I had felt so close to him. We knew each other so well; he had been through everything it seemed. I loved him and trusted him so much. I never wanted to see it end.

I stepped into the shower, grinning like a fool, humming along to the happy music in my head. He'd see the real me. He could see through the sickness and he still loved me. Did that mean...? When things got bad... would I not have to break up with him? Would he still love me? Could he still look at me and see the same person?

I realized, no he wouldn't. He might see bits and pieces of the old me, but when he actually looked at me, he'd see a dying girl. He didn't see it now -heck, I didn't see it now- but when things got worse, when I started hacking up blood and wobble like tree in a hurricane, things would change. We'd all have to lose the rose colored glasses and see the world for what it is. And if I held onto Fang, I'd be weighing him down, holding him back. I'd be selfish.

But for now, we'd make the best of our relationship. Enjoy life.

Why do I keep thinking about it anyway? It won't happen for awhile.

Later that day, I was playing with the little kids. This was the last day at daycare for Trey and Asher, for them, the first day of kindergarten started tomorrow. They were playing with Play Doh at the table, and we were talking about school, all the people they'd meet; the things they'd learn. I was trying to pay attention to the conversation and not let my mind stray to last night.

Mom walked into the kitchen. Things had cooled off between us. We weren't mad anymore –though neither of us had said sorry. The argument had set us more farther apart than ever.

She had a thin white piece of paper, "This is a check for helping out in the daycare over the summer."

I read it over and my jaw hit the floor. I wasn't excepting to get paid, let alone paid over $2,000.

"Mom... are you sure?"

She gave me a small smile, walking to the sink, "Of course, I wouldn't keep you away from your friends during the summer if I wasn't going to pay you."

I almost said, what about last summer? But I caught myself. Miss Ungrateful. "Well, thank you," I breathed, "Thank you so much!"  
>"You're welcome. I got the kids, if you want to go cash it into the bank."<p>

I bolted up. Freedom! "Thanks, Mom," I said rushing for the front door. "Bye, guys!"

The weekend passed with my mind still turning towards Friday night every few minutes.

It was Thursday, and I was in math class, when I felt the pain in my chest. Grasping to inhale a lungful of air. Oh fuck. I did not want this to happen in public. I needed to get to the nurses to lie down. I grabbed my bag and stumbled my way to the teacher's desk, about falling over. My face went red. He quickly stood up and grabbed my air, "Are you alright, Max?"

"C-can I g-go to the nurse's? M-my heart." I mumbled, my hand on my heart, trying to stop the dizziness. Great, the stutters.

"Yes, yes! Do you need someone to take you?"

I didn't know anyone that well in this class. I shook my head, pivoting towards the door. Bad idea. I fell to the wall before limping out of the room.

I made into the nurse, close to tears. My mom came and got me fifteen minutes later. Helped me lie down on the couch. Sat in a Lazy-Boy chair by me.

Monday, we went to the doctor's. My dad thankfully took me this time and Angel decided to come along. I wasn't getting an ultra sound today, just an EKG. Dr. Havensen came in; I told him how I had gotten a few Tachycardia problems. He said I was going to wear an "event monitor" instead of a halter monitor. It looked similar to a halter monitor except it was white instead of black and it was thin compared to the bulkiness of a monitor. On the event monitor two electrodes hooked to me instead of five.

The basic gist of it was when m heart started freaking out -or having an 'event'- I was supposed to click a button that recorded the full event of heart movements. Once two events were recorded, we were supposed to send it back in.

On the drive home, I realized how sick I was of going to the doctor's. How tired I was of hearing the same old thing about my heart. It's not working right, I get it. How many times can they rephrase it?

The rest of the week passed easily, same ol' same ol'. On Saturday, Fang and I were at his house. We were home alone, which we were both grateful for. It was our third time having sex, but it still felt brand new. It was so exiting and thrilling, I loved the way my stomach coiled and my toes curled with each touch. The ripples of pleasure that made my knees buckle.

When it was over, Fang and I lay together in the twisted and damp sheets.

"I love you," I mumbled, still getting a thrill each time I said it. I was reliving the last hour, from the first kiss to now. I couldn't believe that it was this amazing. That things could go so perfectly in my life. Fang was so amazing too. I loved him so much; I loved the look he got in his eyes when he looked at me. Loved how he acted towards me. No person was perfect though, and neither was Fang. But the flaws that made the crevasses in our life were the ones I could fill in.

"Love you, too." he smiled.

I wanted to stand, wanted to go shower, but I was naked. I wasn't embarrassed about my nudity in front of Fang, but what if I stumbled- naked!- in front of Fang (what if I jiggled?) Oh well. I stood up and he looked up at me, his eyes drawing in my body.

I smirked. Nope, no embarrassment in either parties. "I'm going to take a shower," I said, walking to the bathroom down the hall, still naked.

"I'll help you," Fang called, I could hear the humor in his voice.

I flipped on the light switch, stepping onto the cold tile towards the tub.

If your clumsy, or fall down a lot, you'll what I'm talking about when you fall and you're able to think a hundred thoughts a second.

First thought usually is, "I'm going to fall." Second, is kind of instinct, you just know where every item to grab on to is. Third, you get that stomach tightening feeling that you, indeed, are going to fall.

But this is just the general string of "Oh shit, I'm Falling" thoughts (or mine, at least).

I grabbed the counter, swiping random items –a hairbrush, tooth paste, a razor- to the floor. I twisted at an awkward angle and managing to hit my thigh first, before belly flopping to the floor -with nothing to cushion me, may I remind you, but skin- with the sound of skin cracking against tile. The pain was sharp and intense, as the wind was knocked out of me. Tears jumped to my eyes saying, "Ha! Not only are you hurt, but we're gonna make you cry!"

"Oh shit, Max!"

Suddenly, arms wrapped around my ungraceful and helpless -at this point- body and pulled me into a sitting position. I gasped. The intense stinging radiated throughout my body, mainly the sick, burning, throbbing, twisting feeling in my thigh. The tears fell and a sound escaped my lips. Embarrassed. God, I was pitiful.

"Max, are you okay?" Fang asked, his eyes skimming over my body to rest on my thigh. He inhaled a breath, "Don't look down." He grabbed a towel and gently laid it on my thigh.

I hissed in a breath, more tears fell and I wrapped my arms around my chest.

"Max, I think we need to go to the hospital. Your thigh does not look good. We need clothes," he ran from the bathroom.

I tried to blink the tears away, "I'm fine!" I called my voice shaky. I really was fine. I just fell. Why did he put a towel on my thigh?

Just then, another burst of pain stabbed my leg making me yelp like a dog.

He reappeared, now dressed. He carried a baggy "T" shirt and loose pants.

"I'm fine. I don't need to go," I whimpered. "And those aren't my clothes," I mumbled, my voice still teary sounding.

"I know, lift your arms," he stretched the shirt over my head, "Your clothes will take too long to put on and there's no way you'd be able to get jeans on. Close your eyes."

"Fang, I don't want to go," my pitiful voice whined. I cried out again when the pain shocked me. I hunched forward, with an urge to gag.

"Too bad, close your eyes. You don't want to see your leg."

My stomach twisted, I closed my eyes. "B-but I don't have underwear."

"Oh well." He quickly and carefully slipped the pants up to my hips. He carefully grabbed me off the floor.

"Fang I-I'm really fine. I can walk." I tried not to hiss in a breath as the pain intensified. I squeezed my eyes shut.

He rushed to the living room and grabbed the keys to Jimmy's truck. "Do you want me to get your mom?" he asked as we went to the truck. He set me on the seat.

Mom. She'd freak. She'd yell. She'd ask about my clothes. I didn't want to deal with it right now.

"No. Fang, I'm fine-" my voice was strained, when I noticed the blood on his shirt. I looked down at my thigh. Smeared blood stained the pants, about the size of my fist. It couldn't be that bad.

I gasped again and more tears wanted to slide down my face.

We made it to the hospital about eight minutes later. More tears escaped as tears took the leap of death from chin to my shirt. I tried to bunch up my pant leg to look at it, but it hurt too much to get it passed my knee. I thought Fang was blowing it out of proportion, as another throb climbed up my leg. I didn't need to see a doctor, it was probably sprained. Um, can you sprain a thigh?

I tried to climb down from the truck cab, but with a gasp and a cry of pain, I almost got too closely acquainted with the asphalt. Thankfully Fang caught me. He carried me in, we signed, filled a form out, and since they didn't want me bleeding all over there waiting room, called me back five minutes later.

Fang sat on the bed next to me as I called my mom, told her I did something to my thigh and I was at the hospital. She said she'd be there ASAP, but she had to find somewhere to leave the little kids.

I didn't care. My leg hurt so much at this point, I kept biting my tongue so I wouldn't cry out anymore.

A nurse came in to poke at my thigh –she managed to roll up the pant leg. Dried blood smeared over my thigh, covering a pulsing swollen -still swelling- lump. The skin was turning a blue-ish color with darker blotches.

I felt sick.

The poking and touching sent me to tears again. Then they wheeled me to get a multiple of X-rays of my thigh. The whole time I was thinking, It can't be that bad! I didn't break it! And, I hope it heals quickly. And, Would I have to use my wheelchair for this? And, My life sucks.

While Fang and I were waiting in the room for the X-ray results, my Mom showed up. She wrapped me in an awkward hug, and then looked at my thigh, she hissed in a breath. We talked for a few, and then waited for an hour before the doctor showed up.

God, I was sick of doctors. And hospitals. He said a bunch of complicated words that frankly, I was tuning in and out of. It's like, I don't care, I just want to fucking know what's wrong with my leg and what can you do for it?

Turned out I had a break in my femur. They wrapped an ace bandage around it, and by then, my thigh had swollen to the size of a small watermelon.

The doctor said when I fell, I cut my leg on something causing the two vertical gashes on my leg. The razor that I had knocked off the counter, I must have scraped against it. He said the angle I hit the ground caused the bone -which apparently was already weak- to snap. I would need surgery to reset the bone correctly. We couldn't do anything now, it was too swollen, and the surgery would be in four days. With that, they gave me a prescription for pain killers and wheeled me to the car.

We were all quiet on the way home. The gravity of the situation was too much to bear. They said I'd be in a chair for at least four months. By then, I would hardly have any leg muscles.

We made a bed on the couch, and for three and a half doped up pain filled days, that's where I stayed.

The surgery wouldn't be too complicated, they said, though I'd have to stay two nights at the hospital. As they prepped me for surgery, my mind turned to Fang. The day I fell, something had changed. He started acting funny around me, something was different in the way he couldn't met my eyes. I guess he finally realized what my situation held. I was destined to keep rotting away until I was dead. And he had finally opened his eyes to it.

**Hey guys! Next chapter will be a "Then" chapter again.**

**Also, here's an inspiring video about a man living with FA (at one point, he takes a hand full of pills, those are Idebenone pills). **

**watch?feature=player_embedded&v=BTdpBbge9zQ (the link isn't quite working but if you google it, it's the facebook one that says Impossible Is Nothing in the description. It's the 4th link down :)**


	26. Chapter 26 Now

**I'm so sorry this has taken so long. I had the worse case of writers block and hope you guys aren't too disappointed but this chapter turned out being a now chapter. Sorry!**

**TwiPotterHungerRidePercyLiars- You are in luck!**

**Black Carnation- Wow! Thank you! Maybe when I'm older, but writing is just for fun for now. Not sure what the future might hold ;) And yes, my younger brother has it. **

**Now**

**5 months later**

They sliced into my leg and pinned the bone back together; stitching close the hole that was bound to make me bled out and ruin my life.

The next two weeks, my heart never seemed to stay at a steady pace. It was always beating too fast or slow, performing unsteady dances in my chest. We ended up in the hospital again because of it. I was starting to recognize the nurses remember who was nice and who wasn't.

I stayed out of school for a month. Six weeks. Thirty school days. I missed about 120,600 hours of school. And let me tell you, I had enough make up work to re-wallpaper the whole house. Why is it that homework always takes longer and makes absolutely no sense at home? It was driving me flippin' crazy!

But finally, I was released to the world, using my wheelchair to navigate the wild halls of my campus. It felt so amazing to be free, to feel -can you believe it?- well, to laugh and joke with my friends. I refused to let anyone push me, I wanted use my arms, work the muscles so they wouldn't rot away like an apple. Strong and hard at first, slowly turning soft over time, then mushy, bruising and collapsing in, no longer able to sit up right by itself.

That was not going to happen to me.

I had been in school for three months -still using the chair- when I caught some sort of bug. Maybe the flu, I don't know, but every time I thought about food I'd have to bury my head in a bucket. I couldn't get down on the floor with my bad leg, therefore I couldn't hunch in front of the toilet so I was forced to the humiliation of getting sick in a bowl.

I used to be able to hobble a little, get from my chair to the toilet by myself so I could have the small amount of privacy of going to the bathroom by myself.

But when I was sick, I was so dizzy, so heavy and weak someone physically had to set me on the toilet, as embarrassing as that was. I was disgusted. One night, Fang stayed with me, rubbing my back and holding my hair back. I didn't want his help. I didn't want help from anyone. I wouldn't let him help me at all.

I remember everything about the next moment. The tickle in my throat, the couching fit, my hand desperately grasping for a Kleenex. I covered my mouth and coughed more. I pulled tissue away, and the red stain in the white fabric caught my eye. Blood. I glanced behind me to see if Fang saw.

"Are you okay?" He asked frantically. He saw. He rubbed my back, trying to be comforting, his eyes were wide. He wanted to help.

I pulled away. Leave me alone. "Fine," I grumbled, crumpling up the Kleenex.

Fang still held something between us. A wall, blocking out each other. He was no longer someone I could vent to, ask for advice. He seemed to cut himself away from me. Guess he beat me to it. His normally full eyes turned hollow when he glanced at me. He wasn't himself around me. He didn't want to be with me -at all- anymore.

One day though, he wasn't acting like himself, he was acting particularity affectionate towards me and we were alone. I went with it, not sure when this might happen again. Happy to have him actually look at me, touch me, _talk_ to me. It had been almost four months sense the surgery and my leg was feeling better by tons. Fang was touching me in away that made my leg muscles tense up and squeeze. With a bright and painful flash, it felt like my thigh muscles were being torn apart. I yelped and yanked away and Fang immediately stopped. I rubbed my thigh, gasping and blinking tears, praying for my muscles to unclench.

When they finally did, Fang apologized. I apologized. He wouldn't meet my eyes. I asked him if he was mad. He asked if I was hurt. I told him it was my fault, please don't be mad. Pleased don't leave. He said he had to go, he'd be late. He left, bringing his love for me with him. Closing my bedroom door was like snapping the scissors on the final string that held us together. It was time.

A few weeks passed and Fang and I hardly spoke. He didn't love me. Didn't want to be my friend either. I guess this is what I had been hoping for. Who knew it'd hurt so much? I didn't have my friend. My boyfriend. My best friend. The person who had stuck it out through everything, all the weight. I guess it was too much for him to bear. I felt sick seeing him at school. He started driving Eden's car to school. I still saw him at the lunch table. But I got no acknowledgment.

"Things have changed, Ella." We sat on my bed, talking. "Ever since I hurt my leg, he hasn't been the same. He always ignores me. He hardly ever talks to me." I shook my head, blinking tears. Why was I so upset? I knew this was coming.

"Max, it goes both ways. Don't you think you're pushing him away too? He might be hurting too."

"What would he be hurting about? Me not wanting his help? Something is going on. He doesn't care anymore. He can't even look at me."

**Fang's POV**

"Man, what is going on with you lately?" Iggy demanded, as I furiously beat a nail into a piece of wood, hopefully the final product would turn into a doll house for Nudge.

"Nothing. Why?"

"Well, besides the fact that you're trying to kill that nail, you've been completely ignoring Max-"

"I'm ignoring _her_?"

"You haven't noticed, dude? You're acting like she has an STD or something."

I glanced up, glaring, "She's the one ignoring me. Can't you see it in her eyes? She hates me. Ever since we came home from Florida she's been acting funny. She blames me for everything."

"She blames you for having FA?"

"No! For falling."

"She blames you for _falling_?"

"Yes."

"And why would you think that?"

"It's my fault that she got hurt. I didn't catch her. I was walking right behind her and she fell."

Iggy looked at me, his eye brow raised, he started to smirk, then chuckled, then started laughing deep stomach laughs. "Shit, Fang. You sound like a girl. You think she blames you? She wants you to grow a pair an actually talk to her -in the very least! God, grow up."

I glared, wanting to argue. Then decided not to, "Fine. Point taken. But haven't you seen how distant she's been getting? Something is going on with her. She retreating away from everyone."  
>"Again with the girl thing. But I've seen it. Something's going down."<p>

"It hurts to see her acting so differently. It hurts to see her in general. I can't even look at her."

**Max's POV**

Today, I was home alone. The doctor said I should try to start putting weight on my leg. Not walking, just standing. I've refused to do it until now. I don want my parents to see my pitiful attempts to move to my legs again. My legs were soft now, the muscles lose.

I wheeled into the living room, put the brakes, pushed the foot rests aside and grabbed hold of the couch arm. I was going to walk if it killed me -even if I wasn't supposed to-. My fingers dug into the cushion and I pulled. I pulled with all my might, trying to get my legs to work. I ignored the pain in in my leg as my hips began to raise up from the seat. I pulled, leaning against the couch, feeling on top of the world. I could do it. I could do this.

I fell forward, my face hitting the couch arm and my forehead smacking against the wood. I cried out. God! I tried to pull back. I couldn't. I placed my arms beside me and slowly pushed upward then threw myself into the chair.

Tears were building up. I was livid, I was frustrated, I was confused, and I just wanted to clear one thing up in my life. Wanted one thing to be over, done with, closed, and forgotten.

I wheeled to Fang's house, managed to get through the door by myself. I crashed into the house and banged into his room. I slammed shut the door, looking at him in the first time since God knows when.

"We need to talk," I said.

He sat up, then stood, raising an eyebrow a me.

"Sit down." he did. "Fang... something's not right." I could do this. "It hasn't been for awhile."

He shrugged then peeked at me.

"So, you're even going to talk to me?" I narrowed my eyes.

"I don't know what to say." He gave me a nervous smile.

"Fang," I took a deep breath. Come on. It's not that hard. Do it. "I think we should break up."

"What? Max, no!"  
>"I mean, hasn't that what we've been for awhile? Broken? Now it's just official."<p>

"Max, we- we can fix things. It's just a rough patch we don't have to break up. I don't want to."

"Well, I do, Fang."  
>He was quiet. "Why?"<p>

Because it's time to say goodbye. I was going to break up with you for awhile, I was just waiting for the last possible second so we could spend every minute together. I'm getting worse. We both know it. I don't want you to see. You don't want to see it either. So there's only one thing to do. Oh, and I can't tell you any of this either because I know you'll just deny it but in reality you'll be glad I'm gone.

I shook my head.

"Why?" he asked again.

"It was fun. It was great. But... things have changed... I just." I shook my head.

"What?"

"I _can't_ anymore, Fang."

"Can't what? God, speak speak in competent sentences, Max."

"I can't be with you! You've felt it too. Things aren't working and I don't want us to wind up hating each other! I can't stand us being like this! Can't stand you seeing me this way-" Whoops. Said too much. Gotta go. "Bye, Fang." I opened the door and quickly left his house. The rain was pouring and by the time I got back inside my house, I was drenched. But hey, at least I couldn't tell if they were tears or raindrops.

**Fang's POV**

I was at our school's pool. I'd be swimming almost everyday, blowing off steam, but right now the pool felt like a distant memory from my childhood I docked my iPod blasting the music. I was here alone. I pulled down my goggles and sprang into the pool, kicking hard. The sounds of splashing water, waves and music tangled together creating a steady beat. Kick, music, waves, air, kick, music, waves, air, kickmusicwavesair. I plunged forward lap after lap. Eventually my legs hurt. My neck was stiff and my throat was turning raw.

Song after song blared.

**Step one you say we need to talk**

The verse caught my attention. I stopped and popped from the water, swimming to the edge of the pool.

**He walks you say sit down it's just a talk  
>He smiles politely back at you<br>You stare politely right on through  
>Some sort of window to your right<br>As he goes left and you stay right  
>Between the lines of fear and blame<br>And you begin to wonder why you came**

**Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend**  
><strong>Somewhere along in the bitterness<strong>  
><strong>And I would have stayed up with you all night<strong>  
><strong>Had I known how to save a life<strong>

**Let him know that you know best**  
><strong>Cause after all you do know best<strong>  
><strong>Try to slip past his defense<strong>  
><strong>Without granting innocence<strong>  
><strong>Lay down a list of what is wrong<strong>  
><strong>The things you've told him all along<strong>  
><strong>And pray to God, he hears you<strong>  
><strong>And pray to God, he hears you<strong>

**Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend**  
><strong>Somewhere along in the bitterness<strong>  
><strong>And I would have stayed up with you all night<strong>  
><strong>Had I known how to save a life<strong>

**As he begins to raise his voice**  
><strong>You lower yours and grant him one last choice<strong>  
><strong>Drive until you lose the road<strong>  
><strong>Or break with the ones you've followed<strong>  
><strong>He will do one of two things<strong>  
><strong>He will admit to everything<strong>  
><strong>Or he'll say he's just not the same<strong>  
><strong>And you begin to wonder why you came<strong>

**Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend**  
><strong>Somewhere along in the bitterness<strong>  
><strong>And I would have stayed up with you all night<strong>  
><strong>Had I known how to save a life<strong>

I blinked hard. God, why did this song have to come on?

**Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend**  
><strong>Somewhere along in the bitterness<strong>  
><strong>And I would have stayed up with you all night<strong>  
><strong>Had I known how to save a life<strong>

**How to save a life**

**How to save a life**

**Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend**  
><strong>Somewhere along in the bitterness<strong>  
><strong>And I would have stayed up with you all night<strong>  
><strong>Had I known how to save a life<strong>

**Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend**  
><strong>Somewhere along in the bitterness<strong>  
><strong>And I would have stayed up with you all night<strong>  
><strong>Had I known how to save a life<strong>  
><strong>How to save a life<strong>

**How to save a life**

I buried my head in my hands, blowing out a breath. How the hell did this happened?


	27. Chapter 27 Now

**Physcopahic FanGirl- Jeez, that's freaky! Glad you're okay :)**

**HeadOverHeelsInHate- That would be a good song for future chapters. And they definitly do need to work on their relationship. You're review was funny how it go split in two XD**

**Azori- I was going to say something else, but I though it might give too much away. But thank you!**

**Just wanted to say thank you so much! You guys are great! Hope you like the chapter!**

**There will be about eight-ish chapters left.**

**Now**

The next two months passed slowly. My leg was constantly throbbing, burning and aching. I kept trying to walk -always alone, never in front of anyone- but it never seemed to work. I'd stretch my legs, hold on to the wall or something and desperately try to push myself up. I even restored to using my hands to crawl part way up the wall, bringing my body with it, 'til I was half-way standing. My body couldn't handle the weight and collapsed back to the chair, my leg stinging. I was determined not to give up.

I've been avoiding Fang- or maybe he's been avoiding me? He doesn't sit at the lunch table. He doesn't come over just to hang out with Gazzy anymore. I don't even see him out front washing Eden's and Jimmy's car, not that I've been looking. My stomach would coil and feel hot when I thought about him. The memories would make me want to swallow a few sleeping pills and leave the world for a couple of hours. Anything to escape.

I honestly didn't know how to feel anymore. Fang was gone. My friends were treating me differently. My words were starting to come out drunkenly, I'd have to repeat myself twice sometimes, so people could understand me. My friends were constantly playing Mother hen over me, glaring if people stared at the chair now, instead of laughing. I hated it, they didn't joke, no more cripple mobile, they gave me fake smiles and encouraging words instead of jokes and fearless grins. I couldn't stand it.

So, there was only thing I could do. I was quiet, ignored what was going on, lost in my own fantasy world where happy endings were possible; not just for fairy tales. I started to make a game out of it, how long could I go without talking (not including sleep)? So far my highest record was seven hours, only using shrugs, waves, nods or shakes of the head to communicate.

I turned to crocheting, my Dad's mom had taught me how to knit also, but it took too long, too hard to use both hands. I was in the process of crocheting a blanket made of Granny Squares. If I always kept my hands moving, my mind focused on not skipping a stitch and things seemed to be easier. The world was not really such a bad place, so long as I kept my fingers working.

And my junior year was almost over, we were in April exactly a thirty school days until school let out. Crazy.

Today, Ella, Brooke, Zack, and I decided to go to the mall. I didn't feel comfortable driving anymore, but none of them had there license. I hated having them load my chair in the trunk, too. I was thankful and grateful and they were happy to help, but it feet weird.

"I'm totally getting a new swim suit," Ella glared, "I don know whose bright idea it was for me to get a white bathing suit last year. _Brooke_."  
>Brooke broke into hysterical giggles, "Hey! You chose it out! You liked it."<p>

"Well, you could have pointed out that it would turn see- through! Especially when we went to the water park! _Before_ some old lady said something!"

Brooke giggled insanely like a fat kid in a candy store on half price day. "Oops. Hey, we should get food. Where do you guys want go?"

I shrugged.

"Where ever."

We were headed towards the food court when the constant babble began to drift out, away from my senses.

Fang and I would have gotten married. We would have had a simple wedding, only friends and family. I would wear a white sundress and white flip flops. No gross lacy overbearing wedding dress that weighed as much as I did. Fang would have wore khaki pants and a white button down shirt. Simple, simple, simple. Our families would wear casual clothes, even jeans if they wanted to. No one would judge our clothes, how some people didn't "dress up enough". They'd be their to help celebrate the silver lining in our messed up lives.

We'd dance and eat tons and tons of food. It would be messy food, no silverware or dry chicken on plates. We would have barbeque, eating with our hands. The cake would have chocolate frosting instead of white, it would be simple, square and no taller than three inches.

Fang and I would go somewhere warm and spend our honeymoon on a beach.  
>We'd buy our first house and life would have flowed on, through and through. Then one day, a few years later, I'd wake up sick and realize I hadn't had a period in two months. I'd tell Fang and we'd go to the drugstore and get a pregnancy test. He'd hold my hand the whole way through.<p>

When the test turned out positive, I'd cry. I didn't want kids. Didn't want them to have a mom with FA, didn't want them to have the likelihood of gettingFA_. _Fang would shake his head, glare and say, "Too bad. We're going to love the baby, it doesn't matter what happens."

I'd point out that I still didn't want a baby.

He'd glare harder, catching my drift, "We're keeping this baby, Max."

I turned out to be a better Mom than I thought. And Fang loved his son. He taught him to play football and "T" ball. I would show him different kinds of animals. He'd love the zoo and sports. Then before Fang and I knew it -surprise!- we'd be expecting another. We'd be getting an ultra sound when the tech's mouth twitches, she narrows her eyes, then breaks into a proud smile, "Triplets," she'd tell us.

Two boys and a girl. I met Fang's eyes and-

"Max?"

I blinked back to reality.

Later that day, I was stretched on my bed, creating loop after loop with my crocheting hook.

Suddenly someone knocked on my door. "Come in," I called.

Eden stepped in, a small smile on her lips.

My stomach twisted, I'd been avoiding her, too. I've barely seen her in two months, managing to fake plans or hide in the bathroom. "Hi," I quietly greeted.

Eden gave me her "always calm" grin, "Hi, Max. How have you been?"

"I'm fine. How are you?"

Her smile seemed to turn sad when she said, "I don't think that's the truth."

"I'm fine, really. How have you been doing?"

"We haven't really talked in awhile. I know a lot has changed," her eyes weren't angry just wishful and curious, "I just want to know what's been going through that head of yours."

"What do you mean?" Wasn't she going to ask about Fang and I?  
>"You've been different, Max. You're quieter, you've been pushing everyone anyway. It's like you're living in some different world-"<br>"Is something wrong with that?" I muttered.

"For some other people, maybe not. But you've always been so kind and outgoing, so bright. I don't think it's healthy for you. Your mom and dad are worrying about you and so are Jimmy and I-"

"I'm fine."

"We just want to know what's been going on, why you've been so distant and closed. You're like a clam," she smiled again and it crinkled her eyes. "We just want to help you, Max."

I set aside my crocheting, "I don't need help and I don't want help," I pushed myself into my chair. "If anything would _help_, it'd for you guys to quit worrying and leave me alone. For everyone to leave me alone," I wheeled into the bathroom and slammed the door.


	28. Chapter 28 Now

**cassy359- Hi! Yes, my little brother has it. I've notice that too about people who have FA! They're **_very_** stubborn and try to be as independent as possible. And I hate when people say how they use it as an excuse for attention. My brother hasn't gotten that, thankfully but my friend's younger sister who has FA gets that sometimes too :p. But what you're doing is amazing and probably the best thing in the world for her. It is probably one of the most helpful things for her to have a best friend who is always there for her. Best wishes! :)**

**JealousMindsThinkAlike- I'm glad it's opened your eyes :) and thank you.**

**JacMaxKatniss- Can't say ;) but yeah, my brother has it.**

**Broken- Your story sounds inspiring! Way to go, picking up rowing again! It's incredible that you're fighting through the pain to do what you love! I don't know many other people who could do that. Good luck! :)**

**A few people have asked if I know anyone who has FA, and yes I do, my younger brother has it. My question for you is do you have FA or know anyone who has FA? **

**Four months later**

**Now**

I still drove Gazzy to school. Fang still drove himself and Iggy drove with Ella. Things had finally heated up between the two of them. Iggy asked Ella out our last day of Junior year and they were officially a couple.

I was eighteen now. An adult, I could move out if I wanted to. But I didn't, I wouldn't be able to live by myself and I didn't want to face the music and apply for a caregiver. So for now I lived at home. I went to school, come home, go to school, come home. That's what my life was starting to turn in to. I know it's my fault too, my friends invite me out all the time, but every time I make up an excuse. I'm cutting myself away from them, not returning their phone calls and they're starting to stop calling.

I kept passing around the idea of dropping out of high school or switching to online school for the rest of my Senior year. But by doing that I'd have to tell my parents and in a way, admit there was a problem. There wasn't a problem, though. None at all, I was fine.

My heart was frequently beating too fast. "Too fast" was now my normal amount of beats. I stopped counting them, if anything happened, I'd just faint and that was a pretty big sign to rush me to the hospital.

I usually kept a bundle of Kleenex in my pocket, in case I started coughing blood. It was only a matter of time. I stopped going to the doctor. Well I refused, my parents still wanted me to go. I couldn't keep hearing the negative words, "bad, worse, not working, poor, awful, disappointment, bad news, dreadful, giving up, giving out, _failing". _So, I stopped going. I haven't gone in over three months, I knew things were bad, I didn't need to keep being told that.

In the middle of the night, sometimes I'd wake up gasping, try to grab just enough to keep me from falling into the darkness. I'd manage to turn my lamp on with numb and trembling hands. My finger tips would be turning blue. I would barely muster enough strength to push myself in to my chair, go to the bathroom, and turn on the shower on as hot as it could go. Then I'd sit in the bathroom and inhale deep steam filled breaths of air, until the water went cold and fingers turned back to normal. I read online that steam was supposed to help.

Right now, that's what my life was made of. I didn't know how to live in this world or how things got so screwed up so fast.

**One month later**

I had finished making my seventh blanket last night. They were all over the house along with crocheted wash clothes and scarves and crappily made stuffed animals I made for Angel.

I couldn't help but smirk, I didn't have much of a life. At least my story is wound into the yarn of everything I made. Every time I make something, I think about everything going on, and the yarn absorbs the story as if it were liquid. It's permanently imprinted in everything I made and until the yarn itself is destroyed, it'll tell everything that's happened to my life. It doesn't matter if years make the yarn unwind and blanket turn back into a string. Angel might make something else out of the yarn. The yarn will also hold her story. They just keep getting added on, never ruined.

And so when I'm gone and if my mom misses me one night, she can wrap up in my blanket and hear my words, I'll talk to her and for once, maybe she'll listen.

I was sitting in my car, after school on a Friday. I was waiting for Gazzy to hurry up and get his books so we could go to the library.

Suddenly, the car door swung opened. Fang glared at me with narrowed eyes and he sat down on the seat, closing the door. The first thing I felt was confusion, what was Fang doing here?

"Max, we need to talk."

I perked and eyebrow. What was going on? Why was he here? What did he want? Why now? Why couldn't he just leave me alone?

"I... I don't really know why I came here," his eyes were still narrowed, "after all, it's been seven months." He shook his head. "I was trying to think of the right thing to say. What to say to make things better. Anything to say really," he chuckled a little.

I stared, unmoving, not sure what to do. Why did you come here?

The silence was awkward.

What do you want?

"I want... to... make things better, Max. Talk, at least. If we can't fix our dating relationship, I still want us to be friends."

What can you do? Things have changed too much. "It's too late."

He smiled when I spoke, despite the words. "It's not too late, Max. We can fix things." He was excited now, almost giddy. _What_ is wrong with you?

I shook my head.

"Why not?"

I shook my head.

"Max, come on. Just say something."

No.

"God, Max. You're stubborn as an ass."

Are you calling me an ass? Well, you're an asshole! "I don't want to fix things." I mumbled.

"And why not?"

"Because! God. Why don't you jus' leave?"

"Because I want to know why you can't stand to be near me! Just give me an honest answer for once in your life, Max. No more fucking mind games. Don't I deserve that much?... You were lying before, I can tell that now. I know things have changed but we can work through it like everything else. Just tell me why."

"If I tell you, I know you'll jus' deny it."

"If you give me an honest reason, I'll give you an honest answer."

I narrowed my eyes. "You really want t'know? Fine! D'ou- _do you- _remember when I broke my leg? That's when things firs' really started to change. You started treating me differently. You finally saw what was really going to happen to me. That I was bound to keep getting weaker and so you started pulling back-"

"No, Max, you were the first to start 'pulling back'. It started way back before we even had sex! I thought it would just go away, you were worried about something but you would be fine in a week! But things kept getting worse -not your physical health, our relationship-, you started ignoring me and stopped talking-"

"You ignored me too! And you barely talk in public, why can't I? And I might have been the first to not be as open anymore, but you retaliated the same way! You stopped talking to me, too! And anyways, I was doing you a favor by dumping you!" Thanks to the anger, my words were coming out clearer.

"Doing me a favor! How!"

"Because I knew you didn't want to be in a relationship with a girl who was bound to die!"

"Don't tell me what I want and don't want, Max! And how could you think I would think that? That thought never even crossed my mind-"

"Then why were you ignoring me? Was it some sort of pay back?"

"No! Jeez, no."

"Then why?"

He sighed, sounding defeated he said, "I thought you blamed me. Like you said, things turned for the worst when you broke your leg. You barely spoke to me and that day we were going to have sex and I hurt you're leg, I thought that was the final straw. You blamed me for being put in your chair."

I paused, staring at him in shock, "Fang, you aren't the brightes' bulb in the tanning bed, are you? And you make my chair sound like a dog kennel! But jew -_you_- really thought I blamed you?"

"Why else would you have pushed me away?"

I sighed, the corner of my lip twitched.

He met my eyes. Why?

"I told you before. I didn't think you wanted a girlfrien' who had FA," I said quietly. "When we firs' started dating, I wasn't that bad, but when my heart started to freak out, I researched online and found out how it'd effect FA. It wasn't very good, and I didn't want to force you to stay with me. So, by dumping you, I though' I was helping you. Letting you out of the situation without feeling bad about it. When we stopped talking, I though' that was the final sign to break things off."

"Max, if I'm stupid, you're in a Special ED class. We've know you FA since you were nine! If I didn't want to date a girl with FA, I wouldn't have kissed you back that one day. I wanted you, with or without FA! And by wanting that- needing you!- I was agreeing to be here for you, through the thick and thin, no matter what happened with FA."

"Well, I thick it's going to be 'thick' from here on out," I mumbled.

"What?"

"I want to be your friend too, Fang, but I don't think any other relationship can be saved."

He nodded, but I could see the hurt in his eyes, "So, friends?"

I nodded.

"If it's not pushing," he said looking at his hands, picking at his fingernail, "why don't you want to?"

I sighed. "I don't wan' to get involved romantically with anyone. I don't wan' to keep feeling the things I used to be able to that I can't now." I gave him a small smile, "I don't wan' to let the other person down or feel like I'm being selfish. I can't stand letting my family see how bad I'm getting. Couldn't stand letting someone who I would be kissing to see it either. Hey, did I tell you I might drop out of high school?"  
>"Why don't you want people seeing you getting worse?"<p>

Where was Gazzy? "Because... it jus' gets to me. I hate having them help me so much. I don't wan' help, I hate it. I hate the way they look at me, the pity in their eyes. Everyone's treating me differently and babying me and trying to protect me from everything! I hate it! God, and they won't leave me alone! They're constantly checking on me every hour to see if I've fucking died yet. 'Max, are okay?' 'Max, do you need help?' 'Max, do you want to talk about it?' If I waned or needed any of those things I'd ask for it myself! And now even my friends are acting weird! Do you know what they've started doing Fang? They yell at people now, if they stare at my chair! How the hell would that help, but jus' draw more attention! I wish everyone would jus' leave me the fuck alone and leave me in peace if they can't treat me like how they used to! God!" I slammed my fist against the on button of my radio. The Great Escape by Boys Like Girls started up, the first verse blaring. Something about paper bags and plastic hearts. At least those wouldn't break.

It was quiet for a minute, me still fuming and Fang unsure of what to say.

Finally Fang said, "Max? I have an idea."

I glanced at him.

"It's the answer to all our problems. A way to fix everything."

"What?"

"I have about $500 at the house... and you could say you're spending the night at Ella's and I could say I was going to a study group and staying the night at the guy's house. Max... we could run away."

"What? Why? For the night?"

"You just explained why we should. And not just for tonight, we could go live somewhere else, get away from everyone and everything. We'd leave within the next hour or two," he talked faster, "pack our stuff, later call our parents Goodnight, ditch the phones, find a hotel that excepts cash, leave the car like a mile away or something. I could get a job, and we could just live, Max. Away from everyone and everything. It'd be peaceful there, and we could just escape all this. You wouldn't have people treating you differently, you wouldn't have your parents breathing down your neck. Will you go?"

"I..." The thought turned in my head. We could live safely, my parents wouldn't keep seeing me get worse... "But we're eighteen... It wouldn't really be running away..."

"Then we don't have to worry about being caught. Let's leave, Max. What do you say?"

"I say... Yes."


	29. Chapter 29 Now

**Now**

Fang and I planned to leave in an hour. We would pack everything we could, pile into my car, and just drive and drive until we decided we were far enough away.

Fang helped me into my chair, then we split, going to our houses to pack.

"Plans off, Gazzy. Mom, can I spen' the night at Ella's?"

"Really?" She looked at me, surprised. "Of course that's fine," then she went back to flipping through the bills. I shut my door and grabbed one of the biggest suit cases in my closet. Hopefully it wasn't too obvious. I grabbed toiletries and almost all my clothes from the dresser. We'd be long gone before they noticed. I threw in some CDs and books and some of my crocheting supplies. Lifted up my mattress and grabbed the sock from the middle. For awhile now, something had been making me draw money from the bank and hide it in my sock. I hadn't spent any of the babysitting money Mom gave me last year and I had slowly been hoarding it under my bed. I knew I had at least $1,000. I put the sock in my bag.

I glanced around my room. My home. I wasn't going to think something cheesy like, "Will I ever see it again?" But if someone did ask, I'd say no. I could just feel it in my gut. I wanted to feel sad, upset, something, but I was too pumped to feel anything but jittery. I would miss this place, but I wasn't sad.

I made sure to kiss Angel goodbye, tell her I loved her, Gazzy too. I hugged Dad and he kissed my cheek. I called bye to Mom, as Dad helped me outside, but Mom quickly rushed forward and threw her arms around me.

She looked me in the eye, "Things are turning around for you, Baby," she breathed, a smile lighting up her face, "I love you." I kissed her goodbye and Dad helped me out. He loaded my chair and suit case (did no one wonder how I got into the house in the first place?) he told me, "Be safe. Have fun. See ya soon, we love ya." and I drove off. The plan was to meet Fang at the corner.

And that's where Fang stood, for once in his life, on time.

I rolled up and stopped next to him. I rolled down the window, "How much?" I smirked. It must have been short of a Christmas miracle that all our drama had been forgotten -or at least enough for me to crack a joke. I didn't feel anger either surprisingly. Jitters and excitement, but no anger, no resentment, no nervousness or awkwardness. But I was sure that it would change once the adrenalin wore off.

"About tree fitty," he said, mimicking some annoying show he and Iggy liked. "Pop the trunk." I did and he tossed his suit case in, then hopped up front with me.

I paused, not driving.

"You can go now, Max," he said slowly, like he was talking to a stubborn toddler.

"Fang, are you sure you wan' to do this? After tomorrow, we can't turn back. I don't wan' to take you away from your family, your life..."

"Max, if I didn't want to go, I wouldn't have suggested it. Do _you_ not want to go anymore?"

"I do want to go! I mean," I said calmer, "I do wan' to, but I wouldn't go if you didn't want to." More like couldn't.

"Well, I do."

"Me, too."

"Then lets get this show on the road."

I put the car in drive and started towards the freeway. "Where should we go?"

"Where ever you want."

"That's helpful."

"Well... let's go to..."

"Let's go t'Montana." That's where we had lived before Oregon. It would be nice to get back to our roots.

Fang nodded, "Home sweet home."

Montana, where everything started. Where Mom and Dad got married, and they had met Eden and Jimmy. That's where all six of us were born. Where Fang and I had made our first snowman by ourselves. And Iggy threw his bottle at it and our chubby and deformed snowman lost his head. That's where we had grown up.

I wanted to talk to Fang. I wanted to calm down a little, but I wasn't sure what to say. What to talk about without bringing something un-dicussion worthy up.

So I settled for, "If we drive all night we should get there by eight in the morning."

"We'll call the parents goodnight then throw our cell phones away."

"Where should we go? A motel?"

"For the night, but we'll look for something more permanent later."

I nodded, "Did you bring the money? I brought like, a thousand bucks."

"Jeez! We'll be set for awhile. I did bring the money."

"Good." What to say, what to say. "Uh, did your parents notice anything?"

"They thought it was weird that I was staying the night, but that's it."

"My mom was all proud, like staying the night at Ella's was a big deal," I rolled my eyes.

"If you really were staying at Ella's it would have been a big deal."

"No, it wouldn't."

"Max, I barely saw you at all and even I could see you stop talking and paying attention. I could tell then that you didn't want to do anything."

I didn't reply, just glared at the road.

"See? You're doing it again!"

"Doing what? I'm not doing anything!"

"See? I told you!"

I huffed out a breath."I did plenty of things! Do you know how many blankets I crocheted?" He snickered. "Well, what did you do, huh?"

He stopped laughing, "I, uh, swam... and our team barely won! What did I tell you about you being my good luck charm?"

"I doubt it. Maybe you were just trying to impress me."

"Nah. You're as lucky as rubbing Buddha's belly."

It was quiet then. I didn't know what to do or feel anymore. I wanted to talk with Fang but it was starting to feel weird. We had been on the road for about fifteen minutes.

"Does this feel weird t'you?"

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"Jus'... after not talking for so long, and then we're suddenly all buddy- buddy?"

"Does it feel weird to you?"

"Not really. Jus' so much has happened -more like not happened- without you. It's been so long, and now everythin' is jus' fine and dandy. We're not acing like we've barely spoken in almost a year. Like, at all."

"Are we supposed to? I thought it was a good thing that things were fixed so easily."

"I guess so. It's jus' starting to feel a little strange."

He didn't say anything. It was finally silent for awhile, and about two hours later, Fang switched spots with me so he could drive. I found out he could still lift and carry me. At first, being in his arms felt awkward and uncomfortable. I had hoped he would walk fast. But as we passed around the hood, I realized how arms his arms felt against my back and legs. I noticed how warm he was and him holding me brought up the memories of him carrying me at the amusement park on my 17th birthday. He had strong muscles. Suddenly I wasn't tense anymore and I finally felt the most comfortable I had in days. Fang opened the door and put me inside. For the next hour I had the feeling of his arms against me.

At nine, we called our parents goodnight and goodbye. I felt a small pang when I hung up. They weren't going to be there for me anymore, wouldn't be there in the end. But then we turned our phones off. We were about to throw them away when Fang suggested running them over instead. I felt surprisingly giddy and giggly as Fang put both phones in front of the tires, hoped back in, and rolled forward. Then we heard the loud "CUR-NCH" and it might have been the sleepiness the road was giving us or maybe just finding stupid stuff funny but we both started laughing and snickering.

"That sounded so funny," I giggled.

Around eleven we pulled into a Denny's parking lot. Fang unloaded my chair from the back and we went inside. The diner was pretty much barren, only a few truckers, a giggling couple in their twenties, and an old man with big glasses reading a book.

To tell the truth, I was exhausted. Even though I was just sitting there, while Fang drove most of the time. It was hard to sit up straight without hunching. I kept having a tickle in the back of my throat and I kept straining to not cough. I wanted to sleep so bad. The past few weeks I was having trouble sleeping despite being desperately tired and begging to fall asleep. If I was lucky, I would sleep for five hours. I wanted to take sleeping pills. I wished I could just lay in bed and sleep. No pain... just nothing. I was beginning to crave that nothing-ness. I was tired of hurting, tired of feeling stuck, tired of my family seeing me like this, tired of pretending, tired of needing help, but most of all I was tired of being tired.

We drove the rest of the night and got there about 7:40 AM. We went to a few motels before one finally accepted cash. It was $37 for the night and thankfully the room wasn't too sleazy but we were defiantly not in the lap of luxury. Fang parked the car with the license plate facing the wall and we to our room. We were setting our stuff down as we were faced with a problem. Only one bed.

Fang said we could go ask for a room with too beds.

I said I didn't care.

So we both climbed under the covers. We were side by side as I thankfully began to drift off to slumber land, when I felt something around me. My eyes popped open and I glared at a sleeping Fang and his arm. I was too tired to move. I finally fell asleep with the weight of his heavy arm around me. It was the first time in months that I had slept so well.


	30. Chapter 30 Now

**I don't even know were to begin. I just want to say I'm so incredibly sorry it's taken me this long to update. I hope to have the story finished by summer, but I plan to steer this story in another direction. When it's done, I might tell you the other ending I originally planned.**

**I also want to say thank you so much to those of you who have stuck with me. I don't think I would be able to do that! Thank you also for the reviews! I really appreciated you guys wanting to read more!**

**I hope you guys like this chapter, I spent a week perfecting it. So, without further ado! :) **

**Now**

The next day felt strange. We woke up quiet, not knowing what to say. We were no longer cuddled close, he was so far over on the other side of the bed he was about to fall off the edge.

We left the room an hour later to go have an "adventure". We wandered around the small town popping into random Mom and Pop stores that sold dusty furniture and expensive nicknacks that were made in China. The town felt so different and familiar in the same breath. I never wanted to leave.

I wasn't really sure what was going to happen with the 'rentals, either. When they realized something was up, what they would do? I knew they were up by now, going about their day, not even knowing what had happened. What had changed. Would they wind up calling the police or something? Would Fang and I have to hide out? Or would we end up chickening out? Head home in a week with our tails tucked between our legs and despise radiating towards one another?

I sighed, it was a hot day for Montana and I was having trouble breathing. The air was too warm and clammy for my lungs to drag in. I didn't say anything to Fang, there was nothing he could do. After sight seeing, we stopped by a run down diner and got something similar to cafeteria food. By the time we got back to the hotel, we were both sweating profusely.

"You smell," I complained, fumbling from my chair to the bed. I was slightly surprised that I made it without a bruise. I could've had Fang help me but for some reason I didn't want him touching me when I was all sweaty. And I was stubborn.

"Look who's talking. Way to get the bed gross."

I stuck out my tongue and lay back on the bed. "If you go turn on the shower for me, I won' touch your pillow."

He rolled his eyes and walked to the bathroom. As I heard the shower spray I yanked to get my suitcase onto the bed and started to get out clean clothes.

I heard the shower turn back off, again. Fang popped his head out of the bathroom, "Uh, Max? We're having issues, what are we going to do about a shower chair?"

I opened my mouth. Then closed it. I felt my stomach twist. This wasn't an issue. Shouldn't be, at least. I mean, we could improvise...

My old shower had a chair built in, I had no need to get a cheap plastic one from Walgreen's. It hit me then that I really did need a shower chair. I never really thought about it before. At the house, it was part of my shower routine to sit down while I showered, no big deal. But I could always stand when I wanted to. It wasn't a necessity just a precaution. But now, I couldn't shower without one. This was all like a second slap in the face after not being able to walk. I felt my face turn warm with annoyance. There was always something.

And this was happening in front of Fang. In a gross motel room.

I swallowed and looked up at the ceiling.

"So, what do you want to do?"

I sighed, "I guess, I could sit on the floor. On a washcloth." Two things hit me then. First I'd probably contract some STD from sitting on the shower floor. Second, Fang would have to help me down and then pick me back up when I was done.

Fang could see the emotions running through my eyes. "I could go get a shower chair."

I debated the idea, chewing on my lip. I hated this. God, I hated this so much. I mean, how fucking hard was it to stand in a shower, let alone just stand up? I rolled on my side, away from Fang. I couldn't stand him looking at me like this, couldn't stand him being here. Ha, couldn't stand, at all. How did I ever let this happen?

I closed my eyes. I couldn't take this.

A minute later, I got out, "I'm fine, I don't need t'shower." I wanted to be left alone.

"Max, really, I can go to the store and get you one."

"It's okay."

"If you really want to sit on the floor," his voice was gentle, a certain tone I can't remember hearing, "I'll help you, Max. It's okay."

What he said pissed me off for a second. I didn't _need _anyone to take care of me. I could take care of myself. It wasn't that hard.

That's when his words hit me. He said, it's okay. It _is_ okay.

I couldn't remember the last time someone told me that. Couldn't remember the last time I believed it, either. It was then, I realized how completely fine he was with helping me, whatever kind of help it was; the extent that he would be willing to take to help me. It didn't bother him. I wasn't an inconvenience to him like I thought might happen. My stomach felt warm and tighten.

I rolled to over to face him, my eyebrows almost touching, "You would do that, wouldn't you? Anything t'make me feel good?"

"Max, I'd do anything to make you feel invincible."

And just like that, Invincible Max was back. I was forced back to the memory of waiting room before it all. I had told Fang nothing could hurt me because I was the Invincible Max.

My stomach coiled, and it felt like my eyes were fully open for the first time. It was like I had woken up after the shittiest year in history. Without Fang, I was alone, ashamed, powerless... but Fang took all of that away. _He_ made me feel loved, _he_ made me shameless, _he made me feel invincible._

I meet Fang's eyes, mine were wide, "Fang... how did I let this happen?"

Fang stepped forward, confused, half understanding, half not. My chest surged and suddenly we were in each others' arms. The feeling raging in my stomach was something chick-flicks were made out of, what people dreamed of and try so desperately to feel. His lips were on me, and my lips were on him, and I could _not_ let go. God, how I missed him. My arms were wrapped around him, holding tight, and his hand was cupping my face. I can promise you, I have never felt anything like this in my life before. And it all was so amazingly, perfectly, simple. This was all it took.

I don't know how long we were in each others' arms, lost. How time and space no longer referred to us, but when we pulled back everything had changed; everything was perfect. We didn't say anything, just rested our foreheads against each other and stared into one another's eyes.

"I've missed you so much," I pulled away and shook my head, "I didn't even realize how much until now."

He gave me a half smile, "Lucky you."

"I'm sorry, Fang. I don't know wha' happened. What took over and made me do that. I was jus' trying to protect you."

"What did you think was going to happen?" His tone was soft.

"I... I never really thought about wha' would happen after. I thought you'd be happy."

"You were wrong."

"I know that now." I look down, then back up at him, "I'm sorry."

He smiled and brushed his lips against mine, "It's okay, I forgive you." He pulled back and his smile turned into a smirk, "But uh, no offense, but you kinda stink."

I rolled my eyes, "You got your BO all over me," I stuck my tongue out.

Quickly, he jumped to his feet with me in his arms making me gasp, "I'm going to throw you in the shower."

"Fang, don't you da-" We were in the bathroom and he set me on the toilet.

He turned on the shower, then looked at me, "I'll just hold you. Is that okay?"

I felt slightly surprised. We had barely just started kissing, I felt my toes curl, but it was just Fang.

* * *

><p>In the shower, I leaned close to Fang. Nothing had happened and nothing was going to, I wasn't ready for that, but this... this was different. Fang was holding me bridal style and we were both being sprayed with water. I felt my heart thump happily. This was the closest I think I've ever been to Fang.<p>

At first I had been slightly embarrassed, sitting completely naked on the closed toilet, but it quickly faded. Fang knew I didn't like to feel vulnerable, no girl did, and this proved how much I trusted him. He held me close in his arms, and I loved the fact that he held my eyes. He wanted to look, I could tell but he didn't. At least I didn't catch him, he was a guy, after all.

Fang poured some of the baby bottle of hotel shampoo into my hands and I rub them together until the soap formed bubbles. I dipped my pointer finger into the foam and drew a lopsided heart on Fang's chest.

I smiled as the water washed it away. Never again, will we be broke.

* * *

><p>After the shower, Fang set me on the bed. We were both wrapped in a towel. "I've been thinking about it," I said to Fang, "I think we should write a letter t'our parents. Eventually... I know we will go back. And I don't want them to worry. We do't have to say much, jus' that we're okay and we'll be back soon."<p>

Fang met my eyes, something warm lit them up. I could see he felt bad about leaving his parents, that he wanted to talk to them, but the desire to go with me overpowered it.

"I think that's a good idea."


End file.
